Shadows of the Past
by packleader96
Summary: When familiar faces from Flame's past return, everything our hero's know will be thrown out of balance, as they find themselves once gain, fighting not only for their survival, but the survival of the entire world. rated T for Language, Violence, and Some Sexuality.
1. prologue

**A/N: alright then, this shall be the third choice on the poll, so just sit back, read and enjoy, and don't forget to vote, the poll is on my profile page, check it out.**

**Shadows of the Past: prologue**

It was a bright and sunny day over the capitol city of Canterlot; all the ponies were out doing their daily business, the streets were filled with ponies walking down them, all of them seemed to be minding their own business.

At the Canterlot train station, the air filled with the loud screech of an approaching train, the brakes roared to a halt as the train stopped in the station, the smoke from the engine filled the station, and made it hard for some to see.

Soon after it came to a complete halt, the ponies onboard began to slowly make their way off the train, many of them were high society ponies who had just returned from a trip, but that wasn't the same for the three mysterious ponies that stepped off the train, all three of them wearing hoods.

As they stepped off the train, the one in the middle looked up, and sighed.

"this should be a good place to start looking" he said while looking in all directions, the one to his right, a younger unicorn stepped up to him, "dad, how do we know we can find him here, it's been over ten years since we last saw him, we have no idea where to even start looking" he said with a worried look on his face.

The older one in the middle sighed again and turned to face him, "Flare, I know how long it's been, but this is the best place to start our search, we get what information we can about him, and then we confront him" he said with a calm look on his face.

"but dad, even if we do find him, do you really think he would forgive us after all these years, for leaving him behind, Celestia knows what might have happened to him, in the years we've been gone, he could be dead for all we know" he said with the same expression.

The older one looked away for a minute, and then turned back to him, "he's alive, I know he is, and you should too, after all he is your younger brother" he said as he turned around and walked forward, just as he did the third unicorn walked beside him, and older female, "Flare, you know how your dad feels about your brother, he still blames himself for what happened that night, all those years ago, it was a difficult decision for him to make, but he did what he did what he though was best, but fate seemed to have a different plan, all we can do is hope he will forgive us" she said and walked forward, leaving him behind.

He sighed to himself, and looked up at the sky, "don't worry little bro, we'll be there soon…Flame" he said as he ran forward and caught up with the other two.

**A/N: oh, well that was interesting, if you liked this one, feel free to vote on it.**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: here is the next chapter, just a reminder, this will be my current writing project, but chapters for the other stories will come along every now and then, enjoy everybody.**

**Shadows of the Past: chapter 1: investigating**

After they had left the train station, the three mysterious ponies, decided to split up, and find whatever information they could find on Flame.

The older stallion went to explore city market place, the older mare went to the city's financial district, and the youngest of the three, went to investigate the residential district, all three of them hoping to find the one they were looking for.

(Canterlot, residential district)

The younger stallion, named Flare was walking through the streets of the residential area of the city, much to his amazement, the houses looked amazing, but deep down, he knew it was expected, he and his family had been away for over ten years, he would have been surprised, if anything had remained the same.

"wow, this amazing, I knew this city was great, but a lot has changed" he said quietly too himself, but what he didn't know was that one of the biggest contributions to the city's change, was his own little brother.

He sighed as he continued walking, it had been over ten years since he had seen this city, since he had been home, since he had seen his brother, he felt a tear run down the side of his face, he drew a shaky breath, "don't worry Flame, soon you will know the truth" he said as he continued walking, memories of the time when they were younger and life was simple, flashed back into his head, him and his brother playing in the front yard of their house, their parents watching them with smiles on their faces.

He sighed again, it had been a very long time, since he saw his father smile, all the years of traveling and searching, and he slowly began to lose hope.

As the memories continued to flash through his mind, he turned the corner on one of the streets, and he was taken back to reality, when he heard a female voice call out, "Comet, watch out!" the voice cried, he didn't have time to find the source of the voice, for the next thing he knew, he crashed into another pony, and was sent backwards, on to his back.

As his eyes refocused, he looked up and saw two shadows looming over him, they were dressed in military uniforms, the other thing he noticed was that they were pointing two pistols at him, a shocked expression Appeared on his face, "um, good day officers, can I help you?" he asked, trying to sound calm, but his only answer was the guards pulling back the hammers on the pistols, now he was scared.

Just as they were about to pull the triggers, he heard a male voice come from behind, "alright that's enough, will you guys calm down" said a male unicorn, wearing a cloak, and a military uniform, "but sir, this one was trying to attack you, were just doing our job" one of the pony's holding a pistol said, the unicorn just gave an annoyed sigh, "no, it was just an accident, you two are way too overprotective of me, I can handle myself, you two are dismissed for now" he said, the two guards saluted and holstered their pistols, and walked down the street.

The unicorn turned to Flare and offered him a hoof up; flare was a bit suspicious at first, but grabbed it, and was helped on to his hoof, he looked up and saw a male unicorn, with a grey coat, and a blue mane, smiling at him.

"Sorry about that, those were my personal body guards, they take their job way to seriously, are you okay?" he asked, Flare reached up and dusted off his cloak, and looked up at him, even though he was slightly taller than him.

"Yeah I'm fine, sorry for running into you; I guess I was lost in thought" he said with a smile, Comet smiled back, "no harm done…hey, I haven't seen you around here, you new here?" he said, Flare just chuckled, "oh no, it's just me and my family, we have been away for some time now, everything seems to have changed" he said.

Comet chuckled, "you have no idea…well on behalf of the kingdom, might I say welcome back, the names Comet, commanding general of the E.S.S." he said extending his hoof out, Flare smiled and shook it, "nice to meet you Comet, the names Flare…excuse me, but what is the E.S.S. I've never heard of it" he said, the comment threw him off as well as the other two ponies.

Comet was completely surprised, this pony really must have been gone for some time, "well…the E.S.S. is a division of the government, we work alongside with the royal guard, I'm its commander, I took over a few months ago after my father died, this is my lovely wife Meadow Dawn, and this is our daughter Aurora" he said with a smile as he wrapped a hoof around Meadow's shoulder.

Flare smiled, "well it's nice to meet you all, it's been a pleasure general, but I must be going, I'm looking for somepony" he said as he began to walk away, "hey wait, I'm the general, perhaps I can help you out with that, what's the pony's name" he asked, Flare stopped and turned to him.

"Well, sure thing, his name is…Flame, know where I can find him?" he asked walking back up to him, the name seemed to surprise Comet, but none the less a smiled appeared on his face, "Flame? I know him he was a very close friend of my father's, I be glad to tell you where he lives, how do you know him?" he said, Flare had to act quickly, "he's a…family friend, it's been some time since we've seen him, we had reason to think he lived here" he said, Comet only smiled.

"Well sorry to disappoint you, but he's never lived here, he lives out in the town of PonyVille with his wife, very peaceful town, better than the busy life of Canterlot, I'll tell you that, his wife runs the local library, but he works for the mayor" he said with a smile, but only one part of what he just said interested him.

"Wife…did you said he had a wife, he's married? For how long?" he said in an excited voice, but calmed himself down, as Comet gave him a suspicious look, but he moved on.

"well, he's been married for almost eight years now, to a lovely mare named Twilight Sparkle, who so happens to be the personal student of Princess Celestia, actually his son and daughter attend the university here in Canterlot" he said, Flare nearly fainted, "did you say son and daughter, sweet Celestia" he said the last part under his breath, he looked up and saw Comet looking at him with a confused look on his face.

"Yeah, he does, are you sure you even knew him" Comet said walking up to him, Flare looked up at him, "well thank you, you've been a huge help, but I've got to go find my family, it's been nice talking to you" he said as he began walking down the street, but Comet called out to him, "wait! At least let us help you find him, I will be attending a meeting tomorrow in PonyVille I can let him know you are looking for him, I never got your name?" he said, Flare turned to them, "its Flare, he should know the name very well, oh and one more thing…" he said Comet looked at him with interest.

"The entire time you have known him, did he ever mention his family, his mom and dad, his older brother, did he ever mention what happened to them, about the attack?" he asked, Comet looked away for a minute and back at his family, "well yeah, he said they died when he was young, that his old master from the guild killed them, but I don't see how that is of any importance now…wait a minute, how do you now so much about him…" he was about to ask when he looked up, and saw the street was empty, no sign of the pony that was there only a few seconds ago.

He looked back at his wife and daughter; they looked in all directions, and turned to him shrugging their shoulders.

Comet looked again in all directions, but saw no trace of him, he slowly turned to his family again, and they once again began walking down the street, completely unaware of the pony that was watching them from the corner on the other side of the street.

The pony turned away and leaned up against the wall, with a sigh, "how much have we truly missed, I've got to tell mom and dad" he said as he began walking down the street he was on, to meet up with his parents.

**A/N: ooh, mysterious, well come back next time to see what happens.**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: I finally got around to writing another chapter for this story, sorry it took so long, hope you all enjoy.**

**Shadows of the Past: chapter 2: visiting old friends**

It was a bright and sunny day over the town of PonyVille, many ponies were hard at work doing their daily jobs, other were enjoying a simple walk through the streets, but one particular family, was hard at work.

Once again it was cleaning time for the residents of the PonyVille public library, and they were hard at work, even if they didn't enjoy it much.

"Flame, can you come and help me, sort these books" Twilight said, while levitating a large amount of books, she smiled as her husband walked over and sat next to her, and levitated a set of books, groaning as he did.

"Twilight I really do love you, but you drive me insane" he said with a slight chuckle, Twilight just chuckled back, "yeah, well that's what wives are for, now stop your complaining, I need some help" she said as they began putting books into shelves, once every few weeks, Twilight and Flame would move around some books, Flame could not understand why, but he felt he should have expected that, being married to a bookworm, but he still enjoyed it.

Only this time they weren't alone, only a month ago, Night Gale and Star Dust went on their summer break, and they had travelled back to their home town to spend most of their time there, and they would go back a few days before school would start again, what was more exciting, was that with her parents' permission, Crystal had agreed to come out to PonyVille and stay for a few weeks, this only made Night Gale excited, and was upstairs cleaning his room, as well as Star Dust.

During the past few months, Night Gale and Crystal's parents had become well acquainted, much to the younger ones relief, Crystal's parents had been very accepting of Night Gale to date their daughter, not only was a hero, he was also a very bright and caring gentlecolt.

As they were sitting and going through books, Flame saw a particular book; he lifted it up with his magic, and opened it and began looking through the pages, when Twilight noticed that he stopped working, "what are you looking at?" she asked, as she walked behind him, and peered over his shoulder.

"I think this is the picture album, oh look here's the pictures we took while on out vacation to Manehatten" he said flipping through the pages, when a particular picture caught his eye, one he wasn't familiar with, Twilight noticed him looking at one specific picture, and her eyes widened in shock.

"hey, give me that one, that's not supposed to be in there" she said but Flame levitated it out of her reach, "yeah, I don't remember this one, I like it, you look really nice" he said looking it over, "that's not fair, you know I hated that picture give it here" she said reached out for it, but Flame got up and walked away from her.

"Oh really, maybe I'll go and show to Night Gale and Star Dust, see what they have to say" he said as he began walking away, "oh no you don't" she said as she pounced at him, he just dodged out of the way, and began running, laughing, Twilight began chasing after him trying to get the picture back.

Soon they were running circles around the room; Twilight was getting tired, but got an idea, Flame kept running, laughing and not paying attention to what was in front of him.

The next thing he knew he felt a heavy sting in his face, and fell on to his back, he shook it off and looked up to see a piece of brick wall that had magically appeared, he rubbed his head, and said back to Twilight, "okay, not cool" he said but the next thing he knew was that he was pushed to the side by an unknown force that pushed him on to his back.

He looked up and saw a laughing Twilight standing above him, she had his hooves pinned, "ha, got you now" she said as she levitated the picture up, and put it back into the album, Flame stopped struggling and began laughing, "alright Twi, you got me, can you let me up now?" he asked but Twilight kept her firm grip on him, he looked up and saw a smile on her face.

"oh no, you're getting a punishment for that" she said, as she smiled at him, Flame knew what she was talking about, but he wasn't complaining, he smiled, as Twilight leaned down and connected their lips together in a passionate kiss, one that never seemed to end.

Their lips disconnected, and they stared into each other's eyes, they were about to kiss again, but they heard hooves coming down the stairs, they both panicked and climbed on to their hooves, both blushing heavily, the two coming down the stairs turned out to be none other than their two foals, both with confused looks on their faces, Twilight and Flame did their best to smile and pretend nothing happened.

"Um, what are you two doing down here?" Night Gale asked, Twilight and Flame just blushed, "oh nothing son, your mom and I were just messing around" he said with a smile, a confused look appeared on Night Gale's face, but just as they did, they heard a knock on the door, they all sighed, "can't people read a 'closed' sign, I'll get it" Night Gale said as he walked up to the door.

The other resumed their previous activities, just as Night Gale opened the door, he saw a very familiar group of ponies standing outside, and he only smiled.

"Hey Night Gale, long time no see, how have you been?" Comet asked as he stood in the doorway, Night Gale smiled again, "Comet, good to see you, come on in" he said as he stepped to the side, Comet, Meadow Dawn and Aurora walked in, Night Gale ran in front of them, "mom, dad, we have some surprise visitors" he said as he walked into the main library room, they all turned to look, shocked expression turned to happy ones.

"well, well, well, to what do we owe this surprise visit general" Flame said with a chuckle, as he gave a salute, Comet only chuckled, "there's no need for that, just here for a friendly visit" he said Flame brought his hoof down and shacked Comet's, Twilight gave Meadow a big welcoming hug, Night Gale and Star Dust began talking to Aurora.

They began talking for a while, when comet realized he had walked on them being busy, "oh, I guess we came at a bad time, are you rearranging the library?" Comet asked in a surprised tone, Flame looked down at Twilight and chuckled, "yeah, it was her idea" he said gesturing to his wife, Twilight shot him an annoyed look, and he just chuckled nervously.

Twilight turned to their friends, "actually, we were just about to stop and have lunch, care to join us?" she asked with a smile, Comet was about to say something, but he felt his stomach rumble, he just looked up and chuckled nervously, Twilight smiled and began walking in to the kitchen with Star Dust following her, while the others went to the living room.

(Later…)

After they had sat down, Twilight and Star Dust walked out, levitating trays of tea and hay sandwiches, they all had sat down and began chatting, catching up on other events.

"So Comet, tell us, how are things in Canterlot?" Flame asked, Comet just smiled, "well Canterlot is Canterlot, busy as usual, oh and Shining Armor and Cadence send their hello's" he said with a smile, "isn't that nice, I'm sure they are both busy, soon it will be time for our monthly visit" Twilight said taking a sip of her tea.

As they continued talking, they did not realize as the time had gone by so fast and soon it was almost sundown, Comet realized this, and began to panic.

"Wow, look at the time, I guess we should go, we'll stop by tomorrow, maybe we can all get lunch" he said as the three of them made their way to the door.

As Comet opened the door with his magic, he stopped and closed and turned around to face Flame, "oh Flame, I forgot to tell you, about two days ago, the three of us were walking through Canterlot, when we met this rather mysterious stallion, he said he knew you, said he was a family friend" he said, this comment caught Flame's attention almost immediately, "really, well, it's possible, my mom and dad did have quite a few friends, what did he look like?" Flame asked.

Comet brought his hoof up to his chin, as if he were thinking about it, and then he put it down, "that's what was weird, I never got a good look at his face, he had his hood up most of the time, but from what I remember, he actually looked a lot like you, just a little older" he said, now it was Flame's turned to be confused.

"hmm, a family friend that looks like me only older…I can't seem to remember anypony like that, did he give you a name or anything?" Flame asked, and once again, Comet brought his hoof up to his chin, "um, he did mention a name, but I can't quite remember it…" he said, as he thought for a minute, and then smiled.

"Oh yeah, I think he said his name was…Flare, something along those lines" he said, and the room fell dead silent, Flame's smile disappeared completely from his face, his eyes widened, in shock, surprising them all.

They all stared at him, waiting for him to respond, "um dad, hello anypony home?" Night Gale said waving his hoof in front of his dad's face, this seemed to snap him out of it, he looked around in all directions, and then back at Comet, who had a confused and worried look on his face, "hey Flame, are you alright, you don't look so good?" Comet said, Flame didn't find the right words to answer, he tried anyway, "I…I um, if you'll excuse me, I need to splash some water in my face, I'm suddenly not feeling to well" he said as he practically ran up the stairs, leaving them all confused and worried, especially Twilight.

They remained quiet, until Comet spoke up, "um, was it something I said?" he asked looking towards Twilight, "no, but he did act strange all of a sudden" she said looking back at him, "well, make sure you check on him, that's not like him to act so strange, we got to go, see you tomorrow" he said as the three of the walked out the door.

Although Twilight heard his goodbye, she was too focused on Flame, she began walking up to the stairs, "mom?" she heard her son say, she turned back to him, "it's alright, I'll go check on your father, stay down here, and…sorts some more books" she said as she finished walking up the stairs.

(Twilight and Flame's bedroom)

Flame stood in front of the mirror of their bathroom, he leaned down and turned on the water, and he put some in his hooves, and brought it up to his face, and splashed himself.

After he did that he lowered his hooves and stared at his reflection, "come on, and pull yourself together Flame, it has to be a coincidence, it has to be, can it?" he asked as he grabbed a towel and wiped the water falling from his face, he walked out to the bathroom, and over to their bed.

He sighed and sat on the end, and put his head in his hooves and rubbed them across his mane, just as he did; he heard the sound of approaching hooves, he already knew who they belonged too, but he got his answer none the less when his wife opened up the door, and walked in.

"Flame, are you in here?" she asked as she looked towards the bed, he didn't answer, he just looked down, she sighed and walked up to him, and took a seat next to him on the bed.

"Flame, what happened, you just acted like you saw a ghost or something, are you okay, were all worried about you" she said, Flame turned to her and saw her kind smile, he couldn't help but feel happier when he saw her smile.

"it…it's nothing Twi, I just…" he tried saying but failed, Twilight frowned and placed a hoof on his shoulder, " Flame, you know that you can tell me anything, it's okay" she said in a comforting tone, Flame sighed, and looked up at her, "alright, it's just…that name, that Comet said, that was the name of my older brother, his name was Flare" he said, Twilight was shocked but still listened, "it might just be a coincidence" she said, but Flame had other ideas, "that's not the only thing, just like Comet said, we both looked like each other, we had some differences, mainly that he was older than me, a lot of ponies thought that he was just an older version of me, I thought it was a coincidence as well, but the more I think about it…" he said as a tear fell from one his eyes.

Twilight looked down for a minute, in shock, but she tried her best to stay clam for him, "well, is there any way possible, that they might have survived, you said yourself that you never say them die" she said, Flame turned to her, "I was a young colt, who just watched his parents die, going to see if they survived wasn't my first thought, I was going too, but then Skyfall came and took me with him, and you already know the rest of that story" he said with a sad sigh.

Twilight looked at him, and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Flame, if your brother somehow survived, than maybe your parents did as well, wouldn't that be a good thing" she said trying to lighten the mood, but Flame still had a saddened expression on his face, as he turned up to look into Twilight's eyes.

"if they did, they've been around this whole time, why didn't they come to find me, where have they been, would they have any idea, about how miserable I was, blindly following Skyfall, doing his dirty work for him" he said getting angry, at the mention of his former master, but he managed to calm himself down, for Twilight's sake.

"Maybe they have a good reason, if this is all true, you might be able to find out the truth" she said still trying to cheer him up, but to little success.

"if they have been around all these years, they missed out on everything good, our marriage, Night Gale and Star Dust being born, they missed it all…" he said, Twilight turned his face to hers, "everything's going to be fine, you listen to me, it's going to be okay" she said as she pushed her lips up to his, they stayed like that for a few minutes, before they separated, and Twilight rested her head against his chest, Flame just sighed and kissed the tip of her horn.

If what they thought was true, they would be in for a big day tomorrow.

**A/N: well that was surely interesting, tune in next time, for the truth about what really happened the night Flame lost his family, peace out.**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: sorry for the wait, but as you all know, school is a pain, but I finally got the time to upload the next chapter for this story, so read and review, please.**

**Shadows of the Past: chapter 3: the note**

After Flame had calmed down from the shocking news Comet told him, they went about the rest of their day, with Flame deciding to push that thought away, until he could ask Comet some other questions.

After waking up the next day, they went about their daily business; Flame was given the day off from his work, to help at the library, with his family.

As they were going about cleaning, they heard another knock on the door, "it must be Comet, I'll get it" Night Gale said as he walked up to the door, and used his magic to open it, just as he expected, their stood their friend, with a smile on his face.

"Hey Comet, come on in, just finishing up the cleaning" he said and they all walked past him, when they got to the main room, "hey everypony" Comet said, they all smiled at him and said hello.

They started talking for a while, when comet turned to Flame, "so Flame you feeling okay, you kind of freaked out yesterday" Comet said, Flame just chuckled, "oh yeah I'm fine, sorry about that, speaking of which, I need to ask you a question about that unicorn you said you met" Flame said walking up to Comet.

"Yeah sure" he said, Flame looked back at Twilight for a minute, Twilight just motioned for him to ask his question, and he sighed and turned back to Comet, who had a patient look on his face.

"I need to know, did he say anything to you, other than his name?" Flame asked comet brought his hoof up to his chin, and thought for a moment, Flame waited patiently for him to answer.

"as a matter of fact he did, it may sound weird, but he asked me if I knew anything about what happened to your family…" he said, Flame's eyes widened, and he looked back at his family, all of them shared his reaction, after he talked with Twilight, Flame explained the situation to his son and daughter, to say they were shocked would have been an understatement, but they understood, what their father felt, and did what they could to be understanding.

Flame sighed and looked back at Comet, "what did you tell him?" he asked, Comet shrugged, "I told him only what I know, and that was what you told me, a while back, Flame…something's going on here, you know I can help, if you know that pony, you need to tell me, he might pose a threat to us, and if he does, you need to tell me now, so I can stop it" he said, Flame sighed and turned his head away, and sighed.

He honestly did not know how to answer the question, he turned back to Comet, and was about to speak, but was interrupted by another knock on the front door.

They all stopped, Comet sighed and walked up to the door, and used his magic to open it, to his surprise, in front of him stood one of the local mail ponies, holding a folded letter in his hoof, "sorry, but I'm looking for a Mr. Flame, I have a letter for him" he said, Comet looked at him up and down, "sure thing, I'll make sure to give it to him" he said as he took the letter, and closed the door, and walked back to the others, examining it.

"It's a letter for you Flame, doesn't say from who" he said as they both used their magic, Flame picked it up from Comet, and levitated a letter opener from the desk, and cut the top open.

He slid the letter out, and unfolded it, and began reading silently to himself, they all watched as he finished reading, he looked up at them; his eyes wide open in pure shock.

They all looked at him with worried looks; Twilight walked up to him, and put a hoof on his shoulder, that seemed to shake him out of it, he looked at her with shocked eyes, and then turned back to the note.

"What does it say?" Comet asked taking a step forward, Flame looked up at him, and then at all the ponies in the room, and then turned back to the letter, which was still levitated in front of him.

"It's solely addressed to me…" he said, as he looked down at it, and skimmed, he cleared his throat, and began reading it out loud for all the others to hear.

"_Dear Flame._

_If you want to know the truth about what really happened that night, all those years ago, I can supply the answers you have been looking for all these years._

_Meet me at the PonyVille clock tower, at exactly midnight tonight, and bring your family with you, but nopony else._

_The time has come for you to know the truth about your family"_

He said as he looked up, at the others, they all had shocked expressions, especially Comet, he shook it off and began pacing back and forth, "okay, that's it, I'm officially making this a matter of national security" he said, but Flame folded the letter up and placed it on the desk.

"Comet, I don't think that is a good idea" he said, Comet sighed and turned to him, "look Flame, we don't know if we can trust this guy, I respect your reasons, but I'm the general of the E.S.S. and you've been out of the game for a while now, just leave it to me, I'll get this settled" he said as he made his way to the door, but was stopped by Flame.

"wait, he wants to see me, just…give me a chance to talk to him, we don't want to make any mistakes, maybe he can help, please Comet, as a friend, let me talk to him, if your right, and he is a threat, I won't stop you" he said, Comet stopped and sighed, he thought for a minute, and then walked up to him.

"Fine, I'll let you talk to him, but if I see even the slightest hint of a threat, I'll have my soldiers arrest him…" he said as he made his way to the door again, Flame gave a relieved sigh.

They watched as Comet closed the door behind them, leaving Flame with his family to talk alone.

**A/N: well there you go, the next chapter is when it goes down, the real identity of the mysterious unicorn, see you then, peace.**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: hey guys, I'm back with another chapter for this story, hope you all enjoy, this where things get interesting.**

**Shadows of the Past: chapter 4: meeting the family**

Just as they planned, later that day they met up, as the moon began to rise in the sky, Comet and his family arrived, at the library, fully prepared, for whatever the outcome of this meeting would be.

"Okay, I'm keeping my end of the deal; I'll have my soldiers keep a distance, but if anything goes wrong, I'll give the order" he said looking at Flame, Flame sighed sadly, and looked back at his family, he walked over to one of the shelves, and pushed the books to the side.

He reached back, and pressed against the back, and the panel slid away revealing a wooden box, he reached in and pulled it out, and walked over to the desk and set it there.

He sighed and opened it, revealing his trusty knife, the same on he had used when fighting Shadow Blaze and Storm Lash, this knife had saved his life on multiple occasion's, it was one of his most treasured possessions.

He took it out and pulled the knife out of its sheath, and examined the blade, "don't worry, if this pony claims to know what happened that night, and turns out to be a liar, just another fool playing a cruel joke, I'll help you take him in" he said as he sheathed it, and fastened it, around his waist.

They all got their things together, and made sure everything was in check, once they were satisfied, they all made their way out of the library, and to the outskirts of town.

(PonyVille clock tower)

After leaving the main center of the town, they made their way to the meeting point, the letter told them to be there exactly at midnight, but they got there five minutes earlier, and saw no sign of their mysterious pony.

They reached the base of the clock tower, and had no choice but to wait, "so where is this guy, I hope this isn't a waste of time Flame" Comet said, but Flame was too distracted watching the tree line, as if fate had a plan for this night, there was a thick layer of fog, covered the entrance to the forest, making it hard to see, Comet reached up to the small headset in his ear, "are the units in position?" he said, there was static at first, but then a voice replied, _"everyponies in place sir, awaiting your orders" _said a voice on the other end, "good, standby for orders" he said, as he watched as the clock struck midnight, and the clock began to chime.

They listened, as the clock chimed, being directly under it, it was especially loud, but they did not have to cover their ears, they waited until the clock chimed it's twelve times, after it did, the echo of the clock, sounded off into the distance, and then silence returned, Flame and the other looked around intently.

At first it was the same, the fog still loom in the air, and there was no sign of the mysterious pony, Comet turned to Flame and was about to speak, when they heard the faint sound of crunching grass under somepony's hooves.

They looked around and saw that none of them were moving, Flame and Comet looked at each other, and turned around, and they saw him.

They saw a hooded pony walking calmly towards them, the hood was almost completely covering his face, but they could make out some features.

He did not look like anypony they recognized, but one thing they could tell, the hooded pony had his eyes firmly fixed on Flame and not taking them off, until he reached them, and stood only a few feet away.

"so, you decided to come, I'm glad you did" he said, at first they didn't know who should speak, but Flame took the first chance, "your letter seemed very convincing, something we couldn't ignore" he said, the hooded pony was about to reply when Comet stepped forward in a professional manner, "you've created quite a stir with my friends, mind telling us who you are" he said, the hooded pony turned to him.

"we'll get to that later, but I never thought you would be so stubborn, you weren't like that when we first met" he said, Comet was getting angry with the newcomer, he would not stand there and be insulted by him, "I am General Comet of the E.S.S., and by that authority, I demand that you tell us who you are" he said in a louder tone, but even after that, the hooded pony didn't even flinch, he just looked Comet up and down.

"Yes I'm aware of your position, and I really don't care, I'm here to talk to Flame, not you, and keeping soldiers nearby, isn't very polite, I mean no harm" he said, Comet was surprised, how would he know where the soldiers were hiding.

"How did you-? He was about to ask, but was interrupted, by the hooded pony, "I have my ways" he said, now Comet was getting angry, he reached under his cloak and grasped the hilt of his knife, but was stopped by Flame raising his hoof, but not saying a word, Comet stopped and lowered his hoof, and Flame took a step forward.

The air became thick, as they all watched, "you said you knew what happened to my family, how can you claim to really know what happened that night, and how can you expect me to believe you, and pony I don't even know" he said, the hooded pony just stared at him and smiled, "finally, we get down to business, if you didn't believe me, you wouldn't have come, but yet, here you are, waiting to hear the answers, you looked for all your life" he said, Flame just stared at him, "how can you claim to know what happened?"

The hooded pony just stared at him, "I was there that night, I saw the whole thing" he said, Flame grew more and more suspicious, "were you one of Skyfall's soldiers?" he asked the other one just shook his head, "no, what I want to know is what you saw?" he asked, Flame was surprised at how quickly the conversation changed, now the mysterious pony was asking the questions, "I was a young colt, I don't remember much, I saw my parents and my brother die, I wanted to go see if they were alright, but I was taken away, lived a life, that I knew was wrong, but my family was dead, I thought I was doing the right thing" he said, the hooded pony just stared at him, "is that what you really believe, or is that what you were told to believe" he said, Flame looked away, knowing he was right, but he was also growing impatient, he knew the pony was stalling.

Flame turned and looked straight at him, "it doesn't matter, if you know anything about what happened that night, tell me now, I starting to think this is a waste of time" he said, slowly placing his hoof on the hilt of his knife.

The hooded pony just stared at him with a blank expression, "so eager, just like you used to be, you have grown so much, I remember when we would play in the yard, or train with our father" he said, Flame was very confused, he lowered his hoof, the others just stared on, waiting for something to happen, but just as confused as Flame.

"What are you talking about, who are you?" Flame asked his expression turning calm, but still anxious, the hooded pony just continued to stare at him, "the reason I said it was unnecessary, to bring any weapons, was because I said I mean no harm, and I don't, after all…how could I hurt my own little brother" he said, Flame's eyes widened, his eyes filled with shock, there could only be two reasons for a comment like that, either this pony was just another fool, who decided to play a cruel joke, or…he really was telling the truth.

During the course of his training when he was younger, Flame was taught when to recognize if a pony was lying, and as far as he could tell, this pony wasn't, they all watched as the hooded pony rose his hoof up, and slowly began to bring the hood down, behind his head.

Flame could feel his heart beat against his chest, the air became thick, and the hood rested behind his head, but he still had his head down, they watched as the slowly began to raise his head back up.

When he raised his head back up, and looked right at them, Flame felt his heart jump into his throat, the others just watched, not knowing what was going on, Flame felt as if the others weren't there, just him and this pony, the face, Flame instantly recognized, it was a face he thought he would never see again, not in his life.

The pony, turned out to be none other, than the pony that he thought he would never see again, the hooded pony, turned out to be his older brother, Flare.

"been a long time, little brother, good to see you again" he said, Flame felt tears spill down his cheeks, he noticed as he took a step forward, and another, he found it hard to speak, but managed to form the words anyway.

"F-Flare, is that really you?" he managed to say, his brother just chuckled, as he too felt tears in his eyes, "yeah, it's me little bro" he said, Flame was now standing directly in front of him, looking him up and down, still in disbelief, "this-this isn't a dream?" he asked, Flare just shook his head, "no, I'm really here, you've grown so much, I hardly recognize you" he said, Flame didn't answer, he just stared at him, until his body acted for him.

He threw his hooves around his brother's neck, and pulled him I close; Flare was shocked at first, but smiled through his tears, and wrapped his hooves around Flame, as tears fell from his eyes, the others watched as tears filled their eyes as well, even Comet, couldn't refuse the tears in his eyes.

"I thought I would never see you again?" Flame said, Flare just sighed, "same here, we've missed you so much, we began to lose hope" he said, Flame heard what he said and turned and looked him in the eyes and spoke up, excitement in his eyes.

"if-if you're here, then mom and dad, did they…" he said but was stopped with Flare smiling, "why don't you ask them yourself" he said as he turned and pointed toward the forest, Flame turned and looked, he watched as two other figures, emerged from the fog, both of them wearing hoods, he couldn't tell and facial features, but he already had a feeling who they really were.

He watched as the came up to him, standing only a few feet away, they both reached up and removed their hoods, and raised their heads, revealing two other faces, Flame hadn't seen since he was a young colt.

When they looked at him, both their eyes widened in shock and in happiness, as tears appeared, Flame felt his eyes fill with tears once again, as he choked out the words, "m-mom, d-dad, is that really you?" he asked, as his tears partially blinded him, the two ponies just smiled at him, the older male one took a step forward.

"yes son, were really here, it's been so long, you've grown a lot" he said, Flame just stared at them, when suddenly he felt himself, run forward, and wrap his hooves around both of them , Flare just wiped his tears away and chuckled.

"I've missed you both, every day I would think about you" Flame said through his tears, his parents just sighed, "The same here, we would all think about you every day" his mom said as she cried, Flame just cried as well, Flare walked over, and Flame pulled him into the hug, they all stood their crying, just enjoying the fact that they were all together again, after all these years.

The others just watched and the family reunion, all of them had tears in their eyes, mainly tears of joy, but also tears of shock, Comet wiped away his tears and brought his hoof up to his communicator.

"stand down, there's no need for violence here, I repeat stand down" he said, after many years, Flame had been reunited with his family, after believing they were dead for so many years, seeing them again, since he was such a young colt, now seeing them again, as an adult stallion, the shock and happiness, was overwhelming him, but this was only the beginning.

**A/N: wow, that was…interesting, I was starting to get teary eyed, while writing this, anyway hope you all enjoyed, there will be more later.**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: I was bored, so I decided to write another chapter, hope you all enjoy.**

**Shadows of the Past: chapter 5: catching up**

After the happy reunion, Flame's family was invited back to the library, despite it being late; nopony was going to bed, there was too much excitement.

All of the ponies sat around the room, Twilight and Star Dust had made some tea, and they lit a small fire in the fireplace, due to the temperature outside.

But, at the moment, nopony was saying anything, to say the moment was awkward, was an understatement, not only did Flame find out that his family was alive, Twilight discovered that she had parents-in-law, as well as a brother-in-law, Night Gale and Star Dust were introduced to their grandparents and uncle, the air was thick with anxiety.

Flame's parents and brother, looked around the room, amazed at the things their son, had accomplished, they had gotten the chance to talk with their family for the first time, in many years.

Flame levitated his cup up to his lips and took a sip, as his mother spoke up, "it's a very nice house Twilight, how is business?" she asked, trying to break the tension, Twilight did her best to smile, "thank you, business is good, some ponies enjoy a good book, I know I do" she said with a chuckle, Flame still remained quiet, as his father spoke up.

"Well, it's very nice to have finally met you, how long have you two been married Flame?" he said addressing his son, Flame looked up at him, and did his best to smile.

"well, our anniversary is coming up in about two months, it would be our eighth year married" he said, Twilight smiled and leaned her head up against him, and he did the same, Flame's parents and his brother, couldn't help but smile, and Flame's father spoke up again, "well, this has been very nice, but I'm sure Flame has some questions for us" he said, and Flame lifted his head.

"Well, you can already imagine the questions I would ask, dad" he said with a half-smile, but Flame's dad did not.

"well then, go on, ask away, and we'll do our best to answer" he said, Flame sat up, and looked at his father, with a stern expression, "alright then, what really happened that night?" he asked, Flame watched as his father sighed.

"it wasn't like you thought it was, you probably don't remember much, it was a simple day, but it ended in tragedy, we thought we would be able to live in peace, but Skyfall found us, he destroyed our home, Flare took you to the shed in the back, while we fought off his soldiers, we thought we had the advantage, but we ended up having no choice but to escape, we knew we wouldn't be able to get to you in time, we ran off into the forest, we planned on returning the next day for you, but when we did, you were gone, at first we thought you wandered off into the forest, but we searched and searched, we never found you, we decided to follow Skyfall's trail, but we could never find it, he was long gone, we searched for years, even going outside the kingdom, but we never could find you, it was then that we decided to return to search for you in Canterlot, Flare met your friend, and we learned of your whereabouts, and it turns out, you've made quite an name for yourself, so we knew that seeing us again, would do more than surprise you, but we wanted to reveal the truth, so here we are" he said finishing his story, in as short a way as possible.

Flame was shocked at what happened, he knew there was more, but he heard all he needed to, fragments of that night, flashed back in his mind.

Flame's father looked up at him, with a solemn expression, "it's my fault Flame, I choose for us to leave, we thought you would be safe, but I was wrong, and I'm sorry, so very sorry" he said almost on the verge of tears, all the ponies in the room turned to him, Flame had a shocked expression on his face, "dad…" he said, as his dad looked back up at him, "it wasn't your fault, I would have stayed there, but…something happened" he said as his father looked up at him.

"What happened to you Flame?' Flare asked, as he took a step forward, Flame looked down and sighed, Twilight nuzzled up under his chin, trying to comfort him, Night Gale and Star Dust just watched the scene unfold before them.

"I remember after Flare took me to the shed, there was an explosion; I thought you were dead, then…Skyfall came and took me away" he said, that last part caught their attention, they all looked up, shocked, but Flame still continued.

"What did he do to you?" his father asked, Flame looked up at him, "he came to me, told me what happened, he said he would help, I didn't know what to do, so I went with him, as I grew older, he blamed your death on the royal guard, he raised me, trained me how to fight, but it was all just a part of his plan to achieve his goal, he used me like a pawn, had me do his dirty work, all my life, then came the day they made their final push, I was given a job I couldn't do, I was trained not to hesitate, but to me it didn't feel right, I still remembered the lessons you taught me" he said, Twilight and all the others in the room looked away sadly, they knew what he was talking about.

"What did he make you do?" his mother asked, Flame looked up at her and then at Twilight who just gave him a sympathetic look, he sighed as he wiped a single tear away, "he told to kill Twilight and her friends, it was something I couldn't do, I regret it even to this day" he said in a saddened voice.

To say his parents and brother were shocked was an understatement, he was told to assassinate the very mare he was now married to, they could already tell it was a long and painful story, Twilight frowned and once again nuzzled under his chin, Comet who had been standing there with his family, frowned as well, even Night Gale and Star Dust, frowned.

Comet sighed and looked at the clock, and decided to speak up, "well, I'm sorry to interrupt this moment, but we need to be going, we have a train to catch tomorrow, good seeing you again Flame, take care, all of you" he said as they made their way to the door, and let themselves out, Twilight looked up at the door, and noticed the late time, "he's right, it is very late, there is a guest room down in the basement, allow me to show you there" she said as she walked down to the basement, Flame's parents smiled and followed her, Flare did as well, leaving only Flame and his son and daughter, Night Gale stood up, "well, I guess we'll get to sleep as well, see you tomorrow dad, goodnight" he said as they made their way up the stairs, leaving Flame alone to his thoughts.

(PonyVille public library, guest room)

Twilight led them to the room, and opened the door, the room hadn't been used in a while, it was used when Shining Armor and Cadence would visit or other family members, but that was it, "unfortunately, it is only a queen sized bed, cut there are plenty of blankets in the cabinet, if you need anything, feel free to tell us" she said with a smile.

They walked in, and looked around, it was more than what they were used to, Flame's father turned to her, "thank you Miss Twilight, this is fine, thank you, you're a very lovely mare, I think I know what Flame see's in you" he said, Twilight blushed, "thank you, and please just call me Twilight, were family after all" she said, they said their goodnight's, and she closed the door, leaving them all alone, Flame's father sighed and walked over to the bed.

"we should get some sleep, it's been a long day…for all of us" he said, Flare turned to him, "it's going to be hard, especially for him, it will take some time, dad, for him to accept all this" he said, his dad sighed, "I know, we'll just have to spend the next few days, catching up, it's all we can do, let's go to sleep" he said, as he and his wife took the bed, Flare slept on the floor with some padding from the blankets, he found in the cabinet, but it was better than what he was used to.

His dad was right, it was going to be an interesting next few days, but he didn't know how true that really was.

**A/N: well, there you have it; the suspense builds further, see you guys next time, peace.**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: hey guys, I'm back with another chapter, hope you all enjoy.**

**Shadows of the Past: chapter 6: family time**

After she had left the guest room, Twilight made her way up to her room, when she opened the door, she saw that her husband was getting ready for bed, she smiled as he got in the bed and pulled the covers over himself, she walked over to her side of the bed, lifted the covers and shifted her way, as soon as she pulled the sheets over, Flame turned to his side and faced her back, he sighed and pulled her close, wrapping his hoof around her, Twilight smiled and closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

(Later that night…)

Well into the night, Flame found it hard to sleep, the events of the day, haunted his dreams, he found himself tossing and turning, unable to find a comfortable position, laying on his back, fragments of that night echoed off in his head.

"_Flare, take Flame and hide him somewhere, go son, now! _Said his father as Flare helped Flame up and ran out of the room, Flame found himself tossing and turning again, suddenly he opened his eyes, and sat up in bed, a cold sweat running down his face, he looked around, and found himself safe in his own room.

He looked to his side, and saw his wife fast asleep, he placed a hoof on her shoulder, as he did; Twilight began to stir, fearing he had woken her, he removed his hoof, he sighed and got out of bed, he got the urge to go out front and get some fresh air.

He grabbed his robe and, and put it around his shoulders, he walked out of the room, and down to the main room, he walked up to the door, opened it and stepped outside, he took a few steps, and felt the cold night air blow through his mane, it felt good, but also made him shiver, he took a deep breath, and looked up at the moon, shining brightly as always.

He took another deep breath and sighed, just as he did, he heard the door open, he didn't need to look to know who it was, "Flame, what's wrong, what are you doing?" Twilight asked as she walked up to him, wearing her robe.

Flame just looked back up at the night sky, "nothing, just trouble sleeping, go back to sleep Twi, I'll be up soon" he said, Twilight just looked at him, and placed a hoof on his shoulder, "Flame, I know you must be stressing about all this, but you have to look at the bright side, your family is alive, we can all be a family again, this is a good thing" she said with confidence, Flame wanted to believe her, but something was holding him back, he turned to her.

"I know it should, but…seeing my family again, after all these years, they've never been here, to see us get married, to see our foals born, believe me, I'm more than happy, but I just can't explain it to you" he said, Twilight just looked him in the eyes, she leaned forward and connected their lips together, passionately, it partly surprised Flame, they haven't had a kiss like that in a while, she leaned back, and looked him in the eyes, she was about to say something, but was interrupted by the front door opening once again, revealing none other than, Flame's father, who had a surprised look on his face, "oh sorry, I didn't know you two were out here" he said as he was about to go back in, but was stopped by Twilight, "no it's no problem, I was just going to back to bed" she said as she looked at Flame, "I'll see you upstairs later" she said as she walked away, passing Flame's father, giving him a smile, he smiled back at her, as the door closed, leaving father and son alone.

Flame's father turned and saw Flame looking up at the sky, he sighed and walked up towards him, "well, I'm sure this has been a…interesting day for you" he said, with a light chuckle, Flame just sighed, "I guess you could say that, dad" he said back, his father sighed, "a part of me, feels as if I don't deserve that title from you, after all these years, you've done some great things, but we were never here to see you do them, I'm sorry Flame, I'm sure you must be angry, but if you must be anger with somepony, be angry at me, it was my choice to leave you in the shed, I thought it was the right choice, but I was wrong, I want you to know, that not a day went by, that I didn't regret that mistake, I lost you, my youngest son, I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I just want you to know that I am truly sorry" he said with a sad look, as he tried to hold back tears.

Flame sighed and turned to him, and saw that he was slowly walking back to the library, his head hung down in shame, "dad, wait" he said, as he trotted over to him, his dad stopped and looked back at him, "I know your sorry, but I want you to know that I'm not angry, I never was, I know you were doing what you thought was right, you made some mistakes, everypony does, I have made my fair share of them, but I want you to know that I forgive you, I think we should just let go of the past, and focus on the future, so we can be a family again" he said, with the hint of tears in his eyes.

Flame leaned forward and wrapped his hooves around his dad's neck, his dad was surprised, but returned it, they stayed like that for a while, but let go, his dad chuckled, "well, let's do that then, maybe while were here, you can tell your old dad, some of your heroic stories, it might make your brother jealous of you, for once, besides you've got a beautiful young wife, I'll bet you some bits, that he is insanely jealous, you know how he was with mares" he said and laughed, Flame couldn't help but laugh as well, they made their way back into the library, and closed the door behind them, and went their separate ways.

For the first time that night, Flame slept quietly, not letting anything bother him, he was going to make the best of this.

(Two days later…)

It had now been two days since the reunion with his family, and he did just like he said he would, he was making the best of it, he spent the time catching up, hearing the stories, about the places his family went, and in return, told them of his adventures, and the many times he helped save the kingdom, to say his parents and brother were surprised, was a complete understatement.

Twilight also spent the time, getting to know her parents and brother-in-law, the same went for Night Gale and Star Dust, but they made the best for it, for any normal colt or mare their age, they would have been thrown into complete shock, but they had experienced worse, they had both helped stop an all-out war, and Night Gale nearly died, but they did their best to get along with their new found family.

"Hey Twi, I'm going to go out to the market, do you have the list?" he asked, Twilight walked up to him, and levitated the list into his saddle bag, "oh can I come?" Flare asked as he walked up to them, Flame looked at him, with a suspicious eye, "wait, you want to come with me to the market place, why is that?" he asked, Flare gave a fake hurt expression, "what, you think I want something out of this, I just want to spend some quality time with my brother, that's all" he said with a smile, Flame gave the suspicious eye, but just chuckled.

"alright fine, I guess I could use the help, from what I'm looking at, it's a long list" he said with a chuckle as he looked at his wife, "well, we have three more ponies living here, we need a little extra food, I'll see you later, don't over buy" she said giving him a kiss on the cheek, he smiled and turned to his brother, they both nodded and walked out the door, Twilight closed it behind them, and went back to her business.

(PonyVille, market place)

As they approached the market place, Flame took Flare on a more scenic route, mainly due to his desire of showing off the peaceful town, and Flare was definitely surprised, "well, I'm impressed, it's a nice little town, but I always thought you would live in a big city like Canterlot" he said with a chuckle as they entered the market place.

"Yeah, well life in canterlot is really busy, I just wanted to settle down and have a simple life, that's all I ever wanted" he said as they walked up to the first stand.

"yeah, you got a perfect little life, you got a lovely life and two foals of your own, I'm starting to feel old, just imagine how mom and dad feel" he said with a chuckle, Flame couldn't help but laugh as well, it's been such a long time since they laughed together.

As they went from stand to stand, they just spent the time catching up, and then as they continued their business, Flare got an interesting idea, one that he had a feeling, Flame would enjoy.

"say Flame, you said you were trained over the years, but you've been out of the game for a while, what do you say, we go back to the library, and have a little duel, to see what you learned over the years" he said, Flame turned to him, and gave him a suspicious look, "why should we do that, that is my house" Flare just gave him a teasing look, "what are you afraid, mister saved the kingdom, is afraid of a little fight" he said in a teasing manner.

Flame remembered that they used to tease each other a lot, but it was for fun, now that they were older, they knew they were too old for it, "no not afraid, just worried I would beat you to badly" he said with a smile, "well…care to put that claim to the test" he said, Flame just took a step towards him, despite being the little brother, they were roughly the same height.

"Okay, you're on" he said with a smile.

(PonyVille, public library)

After they finished their business, they headed home, to play their little game, when they told Twilight of their idea, she was shocked and concerned, but she knew that they wouldn't hurt each other, they invited their parents, and the others.

Both Flame and Flare stood in the center of the main room, all the furniture had been moved to the side of the room.

Flame and Flare stared each other down, as they began to circle each other, the others watched with a hint of worry and concern in their eyes, but they knew nothing bad would happen, they both agreed not to use weapons or magic, just pure one on one fighting skill.

"So you going to make the first move or not, Flame" Flare said in a taunting voice, Flame just smiled, "ladies first" he said in a mocking tone, Flare smiled and charged forward.

Flame knew exactly how to handle a move like that, and when he was close enough, Flare leapt into the air, in an attempt to tackle him, Flame saw this coming and quickly moved to the side, Flare landed on the ground and turned around quickly, swinging his hoof, Flame leaned his head back, and narrowly dodged the blow, just as he did, Flare used the force of his spin, he balanced his weight on his front hooves, and brought his back hooves up, and kicked Flame in the chest, with enough force to send him back, but not enough to cause any real harm.

Flame skidded back, and shook off the kick, enough to see Flare charging at him again, this time Flame knew what to do, he charged forward as well, they both leapt into the air, unfortunately for Flame, Flare got better momentum, and they collided in the air, they both landed on the ground, Flare on top, he put his hoof up to his brother's neck, but did not apply pressure, "so, you give up yet, little bro?" he said with a smile, Flame just struggled, and eventually broke his hood free.

"not yet" he said as he punched Flare in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him, he kicked Flare off of him, Flare now dazed by the blow, could not see straight, Flame walked up and punched Flare in the chin, sending him on to his back, Flame ran up and pinned Flare to the ground, and immobilized him.

"Now, do you give up?" Flame asked, the others just watched with entertained looks, except for Twilight, who despite being reassured that they would not harm each other, still looked on nervously, she looked to her son and daughter, who had excited looks on their faces, she was the only one who didn't like this.

Flare shook off his dizziness, and looked up into his brothers eyes, suddenly he started laughing, "damn, you really can fight, I'm impressed, just so you know I was going easy on you" he said, Flame just scoffed and helped him up, "yeah sure, whatever you say" he said as he walked away, he cringed as he walked up to his family, "hey you okay son?" his dad said, Flame just smiled, "yeah dad, I'm fine, just a little sore, I haven't fought like that in a while, but I'm good" he said as they walked away.

Flame was doing the best he could to make this memorable, but what he didn't know, was that things were about to take a turn for the worse.

**A/N: well, it took me awhile to upload this, but we all get busy during the holidays, hope you enjoyed, peace out, and see you guys next time.**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: well I'm back with the next chapter for this story; I'm pretty much going back and forth between stories, and now I back to this one, hope you enjoy.**

**Shadows of the Past: chapter 7: the emergency**

It had been four days since Flame and his family was reunited, and they had been spending time together, almost none stop, Flame was given the time off from work, but he knew he would have to be called back sooner or later, but right now he was just relaxing.

It was the time again for them to clean and dust the books and shelves in the main library, and they were all helping out, it made it go by much faster, "wow, you certainly do have a large collection of books, I remembered you didn't like books very much when you were little, Flame" his dad said as he picked up a book and dusted it off, when she heard that Flame didn't always like books, Twilight gave him an evil glare, he just chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, well things like that change when you're married to a book worm, like Twilight" he said, and Twilight gave him a push in the shoulder, making him cringe, and they went back to work.

Despite the happy feelings he was having over the past few days, something in the pit of his stomach, told him that it was all going to change, "I still can't believe that Twilight is the personal student of the Princess, that must be a huge honor" Flame's mother said, Twilight merely smiled.

"Indeed it is, maybe one day soon, we can personally introduce them to you, I'm sure the Princess's would love to meet Flame's family" she said putting a large amount of books on the shelf, "well, perhaps one day, and you said your brother was captain of the royal guard, that is a very high rank, and he married to Princess Cadence, he must be a good stallion, if he's gotten that far" she said again, Twilight turned to her with a large smile.

"he's the best brother in the world, he's brave, strong, and kind, I can't ask anything more from an older brother" she said, Flame just chuckled, Flame and Shining Armor got along very well, better than most brother-in-laws, but he couldn't help but laugh, at how Twilight was describing him.

"Yeah he's a great guy, but he gets arrogant some times, and a bit annoying" he said walking up to her, this caught his parents attention and they turned, "really I thought you two got along well?" his dad said, and he turned to him, "oh we do, we get along great, but there was a time before we got married, that we really did not trust each other, but it was a long time ago" he said as he looked at Twilight, she knew what he was talking about, and sighed.

After working on the shelves for a bit longer, they heard a knock on the door, which surprised them, "who could that be, Night Gale did you put up the closed sign?" Flame asked, Night Gale looked at him surprised, "yeah of course I did, Star Dust saw me" he said and Star Dust shook her head, Flare got up from his position, and walked to the door.

"okay, you guys keep working I'll tell them the libraries closed" he said as he opened the door, they all watched as he looked out the door for a few minutes, he then closed it slightly with a shocked look on his face, "um, Flame, I think it's for you" he said Flame frowned and walked over to the door, and Flare stepped to the side, Flame opened the door wider, and was surprised to see two E.S.S. soldiers standing there looking down at him.

"Yes, can I help you officers, is something wrong?" he asked, they just looked at him, as if making sure he was him, "are you Mr. Flame we need you and your family to come with us, there's been an incident in Canterlot, and the Princess needs to see you, as soon as possible, we've been sent to bring you there" one of them said, Flame was shocked, "um, well we were just in the middle of cleaning, we can't leave now, we don't have any packing done, this is completely short notice" he said the officers sighed.

"with all due respect, this is a matter of great importance, as we speak your lives are in danger, you need to come with us, the Princess has ordered us to bring you all to her, but we have to leave now, some officers will come by to gather some of your belongings, but you all need to come with us right away to the train station, please hurry" he said, Flame looked back at his family, they all had confused looks on their faces, but they all began to hurry out of the library, one at a time.

The officers lead them through the town and finally to the train station, were they found all their friends waiting, wandering why they were taken from their homes, Flame turned and saw Dark Star there with his family, "Dark Star, they came to get you too?" he asked as he walked up to him, Dark Star turned to him with a frown.

"Yeah, these ponies came out of nowhere, while we were bucking apple trees; they said it was a very important matter, we really didn't have much say in the matter.

Over the past few days, Flame introduced his family to Dark Star and the rest of their friends, and they were shocked as well, but they came to get along, and be friends.

Soon, one of the officers led them on to the train, the rest of the cars were open, the train had been scheduled specifically to them, and no other pony was allowed to board.

Soon the train engine roared to life, and the train began to leave the station, Flame had a bad feeling in the back of his mind, that things would only get worse, and that feeling grew as they came closer to the capitol city.

**A/N: hmm, that was shorter than I expected, but more will come in the next chapter, see you then, peace.**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: I apologize for my short absence, but here is the next chapter for this story, enjoy everybody.**

**Shadows of the Past: chapter 8: a new problem**

The train ride seemed faster than it usually does, but eventually they arrived in Canterlot, the entire time, the soldiers failed to give a real explanation as to why they were even being called there, but they knew it had to be something important, the soldiers sounded very serious.

But soon the train pulled into the Canterlot city train station, they noticed the station was filled with E.S.S. guards, the door opened as the breaks screeched to a halt and they slowly filed out of the train and on to the platform.

When the smoke from the engine began to clear, they looked to their side and saw none other than Comet standing there, with guards at his sides; they walked up to him with confused looks on their faces.

"Comet, care to tell us what is going on" Flame said with an irritated look, Comet just sighed, "I wish I knew, but the Princess made it an absolute priority, that you arrive here as soon as possible, we don't have much time, she excepting you, we need to go" he said as he turned and walked away, the others all exchanged confused looks, and then followed him, to the multiple carriages that were waiting for them.

After they got into the carriages, they set off towards the castle, "Comet, you have to know something, tell us what's going on" Flame said in a serious tone, Comet looked at him, "I'm going to be honest with you Flame, I don't know much, nor does Shining Armor, but the Princess has been acting very panicked lately, but what I do know is that, two night s ago, an unknown group of ponies, broke into the castle vaults, only two things were stolen, but the Princess Celestia, won't tell us what they were, but it's making her very uneasy, she's not acting like herself, all she did, was tell us to bring you all here, as soon as possible, that's all I really know" he said, Flame knew when he was telling the truth.

Soon after, they arrived at the castle, Comet lead them straight into the throne room, where Princess Celestia sat on her throne, with an uneasy look on her face, a glimmer of relief appeared on her face, when she saw them walk in, she stood up and walked towards them with a smile.

"Thank the stars you are alright, but I'm sure you are wandering why I called you here?" she asked, Flame turned and looked at all the others, and then turned back to face the Princess, "actually, by now, we are kind of used to it, but we would still like to know" he said, the Princess frowned, "very well, follow me" she said as they began walking out of the room, they were surprised to see that she was leading them to the lower levels of the castle, past the dungeons, to a part of the castle that none of them had ever been to.

Soon they came into a big hallway; they walked across it, and in front of them stood a massive door, it stood wide open, they turned and saw Captain Shining Armor and Princess Cadence talking with some guards, when he noticed them, they both turned and smiled, and walked over to them, "Twiley, thank the heavens you all made it here safely, something bad has happened" he said as they all turned to face the Princess who stood in front of them with an agitated look on her face.

"this is the Canterlot castle vaults, where some of the most powerful and dangerous relics are kept, nopony is allowed to come down here, except for the guards who keep it safe, as I'm sure you know, two night s ago, an unknown group of ponies broke into the vaults, and stole two very important and dangerous items from the vaults, but what's even more disturbing, is that the entrance to the vaults, is protected by a very powerful spell, that only I or Princess Luna could break, and somehow these intruders managed to break that spell and gain access to the vaults" she said as she turned just in time to see two royal guard ponies walking out of the vaults, between the two of them was a stretcher, carrying a body, under some covers, they saw that the cover was stained in blood, the sight of it made Twilight and all her friends gasp.

"As you can see, the intruders killed the guards, whoever they are, they are very skilled in hoof to hoof combat, as well as magic" she said with a solemn face, she stayed silent for a while, when Flame took a step forward, "what did they steal Princess, you never told us" he said with a curious look, Princess Celestia took a big shaky breath, "you should know, there are many dark and powerful items in these vaults, some of the were never meant to see the light of day again" she said before she turned to them.

"as far as we know, only two things have been stolen, but they are two very dangerous items, one of them was a spell book, filled with the darkest and most powerful spells known to this kingdom, and the other item, was the very same necklace, worn by Shadow Blaze himself" she said turning to face them, when they all heard this, their eyes widened in sock, especially Flame's, this was something that celestia expected.

A few moments after, Flame regained his posture, "but…why would anypony want to steal his necklace, he's dead, what would they need his necklace for" he asked looking up at her, she sighed and looked away for a minute, a hesitant look in her eyes, she then turned back to Flame and the others, "I think I might know, and I hope I'm wrong, but, inside that spell book, there is the spell, that has the power to bring a pony back from the dead, and I think they plan on bringing Shadow Blaze back, this must not happen, you remember what he did when he returned, last time, which also part of the reason I called you back here" she said with a serious look on her face.

Flame frowned as the memories flashed back into his mind, the war, all the pain and suffering he caused, the very thought of him returning, made him shutter, but he kept his cool, and then turned back to face the Princess, "but, what does this have to do with us coming back here?" he asked, the Princess frowned, and looked at him, "the spell only works on a pony who was killed by another, there are three things that are needed, the spell itself, an item that belonged to the pony…" she said as she hesitated to say the last part, leaving them all in suspense.

"What, what's the last part?" Flame said wanting to know the answer, she sighed and looked down at him, a pained look in her eyes, she knew he wouldn't like the answer, but he needed to know, "the last part of the ritual, they need the blood of the one who killed that pony, in this case…it's you Flame" she said with a sad look in her eyes, when they heard it, all eyes fell on Flame, who just stood there, his eyes wide in shock and fear, his mouth wide open, he shook himself out of his shock, and looked back up at the Princess, "me? But why me?" he asked in a panic, Celestia expected this, "don't you remember, you were the one who killed him, the elements only weakened him, but you delivered the killing blow, it's your blood they need, and they will stop at nothing to get to you, which is why I called you here, if they stole those other items, then they would surely come for you, I knew you would all be safe and they would be unable to get to you, I apologize for not telling you before, but it was absolutely necessary that you be here" she said in a calm tone, Flame looked at all his friends and family and then back to the Princess, "so we can't leave, what are we supposed to do, just sit around and wait" he said with the slightest hint of anger in his voice.

Celestia looked down for a minute and then looked up, "it's for your own protection, you will be free to go anywhere in the city, but you must keep a watchful eye for anything strange, you will be staying with Captain Shining Armor, under constant protection, I'm sorry, but there is no other way, when these thieves have been caught, then you will be free to go, I'm sorry Flame, but this is the only way, if they get even a drop of your blood, they can use it to bring him back, and if they do, he will be more powerful than ever before, and he will come after all of you first, this is for your own protection, I'm sorry" she said as she walked past them and out of the room, leaving them alone.

Flame took a deep, shaky breath, as he tried to remain calm, but found in increasingly hard, then he felt a hoof on his shoulder, he turned and saw Twilight trying to comfort him, just as they stayed like that, Shining Armor walked up to them, "I wish there was a better way, really I do, but you'll be safe with me, come we'll take you there, and you can get settled in" he said as he led them out of the room.

**A/N: now that was interesting, things are heating up fast; see you guys next time, peace.**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: hmm, well I was bored at home, so I decided to write a new chapter, hope you enjoy.**

**Shadows of the Past: chapter 9: under protection**

After their meeting with the Princess, Flame and the others were escorted by carriage to Captain Shining Armor's house, as where they would usually stay when visiting.

Unfortunately, there were not enough rooms for all of them, but Comet offered for the others to let them stay with him and his family, all though they were separated, they would stay in touch, and give any warning, if they saw anything suspicious.

Soon the carriage arrived in front of the Captain's house, they all got off and walked up to the front door, Shining Armor opened it and they all walked in to the foyer, after they all walked in and closed the door behind them, Shining Armor and Cadence turned to them.

"you can all stay in your usual rooms if you like, the others will be staying with Comet, but we will stay in constant contact with each other, the second things go wrong, we will have you moved to the castle, make your selves at home, dinner will be served in a few hours, I suggest you all rest, I'm sure it's been a long day for all of you" he said as they all began to split up, Shining Armor walked up to the three unknown ponies that he didn't recognize.

"I'm sorry, I don't think we were ever properly introduced, and you are?" he said gesturing to Flame's father, Flame walked over, and cleared his throat, "oh, I completely forgot, this may come as a bit of a shock to you, but, Shining Armor, Cadence, I'd like you to meet, my mother, my father, and my older brother Flare" he said with a proud look on his face.

When he said that, his jaw nearly fell to the floor, as he tried to find the right words, "but…I thought you said that they…" he tried saying but stopped when Flame raised his hoof up, "it's a long story, I'll tell you later, but I'm really tired, we've all had a long day, we should rest" he said as Shining Armor nodded and they all started to walk away, and went to their separate rooms.

Flame and Twilight took their usual room, that they did when they visited, for a certain amount of time, just as they were told, royal guards appeared with their luggage, it came with a set amount of clothes and other essentials, that they would need, Twilight was busy hanging up a dress that she got as a gift from Flame, Flame himself, was busy unloading, their things in the bathroom.

Although he was setting things in the right places, his mind was elsewhere, his thoughts wondered back, to the words that the Princess told him, if Shadow Blaze could return, it would mean that he would have to fight again, and endanger his family, even after he given up that life, it seemed that everywhere he turned, his old life would come and smack him in the face.

He returned to reality, when he heard Twilight's voice from the doorway, he shook out of his thoughts and turned to her, "Flame, are you okay?" she asked, with a worried voice, he looked back down at the sink, and saw that he had nearly squeezed all of the tooth paste all over the counter.

He shook his head, "yeah, just lost in my thoughts, I guess I'm just tired, let's get some sleep, we've all had a long day" he said wiping it away, and throwing the it in the trash.

He walked past her and to the bed, and slowly crawled in, Twilight quickly followed, they both got into the bed and snuggled close together, holding each other close, Flame draping his hoof around Twilight, he closed his eyes and they both fell into a deep sleep.

(Flame's nightmare)

There were screams all around him, ringing in his ears, he found himself running, he could not tell where he was, but as he continued to run, unable to stop himself, the screams grew louder, almost making him deaf, the sound of a crackling fire began to fill his ears, as well as the screams.

Suddenly he found himself running through the streets of PonyVille, the screams came from the citizens of the town, the night sky was filled with an orange glow, and then the realization hit him.

There was a fire, not one, but a fire everywhere, every home, every shop, the fire burned, ponies ran, screaming in fear and terror, as Flame found himself in town center, fires all around him, the bodies of dead ponies littered the streets, all around him, the site was to horrible, even he couldn't bear it, what could have caused all this destruction, or who.

Just as he thought, he heard an all too familiar laugh come from behind him, he turned around and looked up, and saw a familiar black coated alicorn, hovering in the air, and sinister grin.

"Do you like what I've done with the place?" he said coming into to view, revealing his face, the same face that sent Flame's blood running cold, "no! It's not possible! Your dead, I killed you!" he shouted, Flame shouted, the alicorn just laughed, and landed in front of him.

"Or so you thought, I will come back, and what you see here, will come true, you will lose all you hold dear, and then I will kill you" he said as he charged forward, being too fast for him, Shadow Blaze grabbed Flame by the throat and lifted him up into the air, applying pressure, making Flame gasp out for air, only to be met by smoke and ashes.

Shadow started laughing, "no matter what you do, I will come back, and I will make you suffer more than any other, only then will you learn the true meaning of pain" he said as he drew out a knife and brought it close to Flame's stomach.

"I will come back, and make sure nopony will stop me, not even you" he said before he thrust it forward, causing Flame to cry out.

(Reality)

Flame shot up in bed, sweat running down his face, his breathing was really heavy, he began looking around in a panic, he found himself safe in their room at Shining Armor's house, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, just in time to see Twilight sit up in bed with a worried look on her face, "Flame, what's wrong, are you okay?" she asked greatly concerned.

He finally felt his breathing calm down, he turned to her, "yeah, it was just a nightmare" he said looking away, Twilight sighed and placed a hoof on his shoulder, "was it about, what the Princess said?" she asked, he knew he wouldn't be able to lie to her, and get away with it, he just simply shook his head.

Just as Twilight was about to say something, there was a knock on the door, they both sighed and got out of bed, Flame walked up to the door, and opened it, revealing a royal guard, "sorry to disturb you sir, but the captain has told us, to inform you that dinner is ready" he said Flame tried his best to smile, "thank you, we'll be right down" he said, the guard gave a nod and walked down the hall.

(Later…)

Just as they had planned, they all sat down and had a nice dinner, made from the chefs in the house, being captain, many would say that Shining Armor was spoiled, but he still preferred to do things himself.

After their dinner that all did their own thing, but Night Gale had other plans, he remembered that he promised Crystal that he would visit when he returned, but this wasn't the way he planned to return, but he knew that his dad and his uncle wouldn't let him out of their sites, but he still had to try.

He found his dad talking with his uncle in the library, he walked in, and they both turned to look at him, "sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering, I promised Crystal, I would go and see her, when I came back to Canterlot, and I know the Princess said to stay here, but she also said we could go anywhere in the city" he said trying to prove a point, Flame took a deep breath, "you know I already going to say, it's not a good idea, but I suppose you have a point" he said looking at Shining Armor, who had a frown on his face.

"Yes your right, she did say that, but I'm not sure you fully understand, just how dangerous it is, these ponies don't mess around, if they find out that you are out there, they will come after you" he said with a serious tone, "I know uncle, but the Princess said we can go anywhere in the city, as long as we have protection, we could always have some guards with us, so we stay safe, the second something strange comes up, we will head straight home" he said with a look in his eyes that always got to the both of them, even at his older age.

They both let out an annoyed groan, and looked at him, "okay fine, but there will be guards with you the entire time, the second you sense something out of the order, you get straight back here" Shining Armor said, a wide smile spread across Night Gale's face, as he looked at them.

"Thanks, you're the best, I'll be back later" he said as he grabbed a cloak and ran out the door, they just watched him with worried looks on their faces.

(Canterlot, outside Crystal's home)

Just as he was told, he was escorted by two members of the royal guard, luckily for him; they kept a distance, so that he would be able to talk with Crystal in private.

After going a couple of blocks, Night Gale came to her house, being in the fancier part of the city, the house was very big, suitable for a family who was a part of the royal court, he smiled as he walked up the steps, the two guards waited at the bottom of the steps.

He took a deep breath, and raised his hoof and knocked on the door, even though he had met her parents in person, he was still nervous every time he met them, he waited for few seconds, when the door opened, revealing a pony, in a butler's outfit, he looked around for a minute, and then looked down at him, a surprised look on his face.

"master Night Gale, it's good to see you, I didn't know you were returning so soon" he said stepping to the side, Night Gale greeted him back, as they stepped into the main room, a large staircase, in the middle, a burning fireplace to his left, a door that led to another hall on his right, "sorry, I should have written, but I was wondering if Crystal's home?" he asked, but before the butler could answer, he heard another voice from the top of the stairs.

"ah, Night Gale, my boy, you returned early, I do believe school doesn't start again for a while, what brings you here" he said walking down the steps, Night Gale did his best to stand up straight, and look proper, he extended his hoof out, and they shook.

"sorry about that, sir, but I came back because of…family issues, it's nothing bad, but we had to come back to Canterlot" he said with a smile, Crystal's father smiled at him, "well, that's nice, I'm sure Crystal's up in her room, could you go get her" he said the last part to the butler, he nodded and walked up the stairs and down the hall.

(Crystal's room)

Crystal sat in front of her bedroom dresser, looking into her mirror, gently brushing her mane, making gentle strokes, during breaks, she likes to relax and do a little studying, but when Night Gale's in town, they usually go out around the town, and have fun, as they would do at that age.

She was humming a lovely tune, when suddenly she heard a knocking at her door, she stalled for a minute, and then spoke up, "yes, come in" she said, and just as she did, the door opened up, and one of the butler's walked in, and took a slight bow.

"sorry to disturb you milady, but master Night Gale has returned, he wishes to speak with you" he said, Crystal didn't need to be told twice, she ran out of the room, before he could even stand up again, he looked down the hall and gave a small chuckle, and closed the door.

Crystal appeared on the stairs, she looked down, and saw Night Gale talking with her father, "Night Gale, your back!" she said happily, he turned to her with a smile, she ran up to him, and threw her hooves around his neck, "I thought you wouldn't be back for a few more days, school isn't going to start any time soon" she said in a happy tone.

Night Gale smiled, "it's a long story, I'll tell you later, would you like to go for a walk?" he asked, gesturing towards the door, Crystal turned to her father, "can we dad, please?" she asked, he looked at her, and then gave out a light-hearted chuckle, "I suppose so, just don't stay out to late, and don't get into any trouble, be careful, the both of you" he said, and the two of them headed for the door.

(Later…)

They did what they were told and stayed in the area, the two guards followed them a few yards back, making sure they stayed safe, Crystal was still confused, as to why they were there, leaving Night Gale to explain why they even came back, leaving out the part about the real danger they faced by being out In the open.

But, he also told her of the big family reunion, with his father's side of the family, to say she was shocked, was a big understatement.

"Wow, you certainly must have had an interesting weekend, am I right?" she said as they continued walking down the street, he gave a chuckle, and answered, "you could say that, you should have seen my dad" he said and they both laughed.

They continued laughing and walking, but the more and more they were out, the more cautious Night Gale became, to the point where he felt they were being watched, enough for Crystal to notice, "Night Gale, what's wrong?" she asked, he looked around, "I'm not sure, but something doesn't feel right" he said as they turned a corner, but the guards behind them, didn't seem to feel the same way.

As they turned the corner, they looked forward, and saw a group of hooded ponies, suspiciously waiting ant the next turn, "Night Gale-" Crystal was about to say, but he cut her off, "just act natural, let the guards take care of it" he said as they continued walking, trying not to look suspicious.

As they got closer, the hooded ponies started walking up to them, until they nearly came face to face, one of them spoke up, "well, well, well, what's a nice young couple like yourselves, doing out at this time of night, it's not very safe" he said with a sick smile, Night Gale looked around and saw the two behind him walk up.

"listen, we don't want trouble, if you're doing something, we'll just leave" he said, and the middle on began laughing, "I wish it were that easy" he said, just as he did, the two guards pushed past them, and blocked them, "now what's going on here?" one of the guards asked, the middle one just smiled.

"oh nothing, were just having a chat" he said with a smile, the guard pulled out a pistol, and stared him down, the middle one just smiled, and the other guard pulled out his pistol, both of them had sick smiles on their faces.

"Well, let's have a little chat together" one of the guards said, as they both turned around, guns pointed out, until they faced Night Gale and Crystal, who had shocked looks on their faces, "what is this, you're not royal guards" Night Gale said, and the leader stepped between them.

"Of this, you are correct, they work for me, you said you don't want trouble, that's fine, just give us what we want, and we'll let you go" he said with a smile, Night Gale took a defensive stance in front of Crystal, who was slightly cowering behind him, "and what is it, that you want?" he asked, the leader brought his hoof up to his chin, as if he was thinking about it, and then turned back to him, "well, now that you mention it, since we can't seem to get to your father, you see, we need some of his blood, for a little…experiment, but we can't get to him, but it seems we'll just have to use yours instead" he said, Night Gale took a step back, and looked back at Crystal.

"Crystal, run, go, run as fast as you can and get help, I'll be fine, now go!" he said, rather than arguing, she turned and ran, and Night Gale turned and faced them, just in time to hear, Crystal cry out in surprise and fear, he turned and saw her being help by two other hooded ponies, that blocked the sidewalk.

He was about to turn and demand that she be released, but was met with a punch to the face, that sent him falling to the ground, he lie there dazed, as two of the hooded ponies came up to him, and picked him up, the leader walked up to him with a smile, just as Night Gale refocused his vision, he watched as the leader took out his knife, and grabbed Night Gale's hoof, and extended it out.

Night Gale tried to break free, but the hold on him was too strong, all he could do was watch, as the leader raised the knife up to his hoof.

"it didn't have to be this difficult, all we need is a few drops, of your blood" he said as he began to cut into his hoof, making Night Gale cry out in pain, as the knife cut into his flesh, he watched as blood began to leak from the wound at a fast pace, and fall to the concrete ground.

The leader smiled and took out a small tube, he took off the top and help it under the bleeding wound, Night Gale watched as his blood leaked into the vile, until it was full, and he took it away, and put the cap back on, he looked up at him with a smile.

"there, was that so hard, let him go" he said, and they threw him down to the ground, Night Gale gripped his bleeding hoof, and looked up at him, "okay fine, you got what you want, now let us go" he said, the leader smiled, and walked over to Crystal.

"maybe, we'll let you go, I think we'll take this beautiful young mare, back to base, we'll have lots of fun with her" he said as they all began to laugh, just hearing that sent Night Gale into a rage.

He cried out in anger as he ran up and punched on of them in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him, he heard another try to hit him from behind, but he applied pressure on his front hooves and bucked him in the chest, just like his aunt Applejack taught him.

Just as they all began to charge at him, suddenly they all became blinded by a bright light from the top, Night Gale stepped to the side, with Crystal, and saw a large air ship, shining a light down on them, and the street became crowded with royal guards, and began arresting the assailants.

The leader ducked into a bush, and waited for them to leave, Night Gale turned and saw his uncle and his dad run up to them, "are you two okay?" his father asked, as the attackers were escorted away, Night Gale turned to Crystal, and nodded.

The other royal guards, helped them leave the area, as they were taken back to the house, and soon the street was empty, the leader came out from his hiding place, a frown on his face.

He took out the vile of blood, he had gotten from Night Gale, and a smile spread on his face, as he tucked it into his cloak, and raised his hood, and calmly walked down the street, like nothing ever happened.

**A/N: I apologize for not updating this story, in a while, but now this new chapter is up, hope you enjoyed.**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: well, I'm back with the next chapter for the story, hope you all enjoy, as always, it gets more interesting.**

**Shadows of the Past: chapter 10: a silver lining**

After the attack, Crystal was escorted back to her home by Comet himself, while Night Gale went with his uncle and father back to the house, he was brought into the house, and treated for his wounds by his Aunt Cadence, she sat in front of him, applying a clear liquid to the wounds, so that it wouldn't get infected.

He cringed every time it made contact to the wounds, he watched as his dad walked up to him, with a calm look on his face, Cadence stopped and walked away leaving the two of them alone, Night Gale gave a heavy sigh, he knew what his dad was going to say.

"I know, you were right I was wrong, it was stupid, being a foolish young colt, trying to get myself killed, right?" he said, Flame shrugged and looked at him.

"normally I would say stuff like that, but not this time, it wasn't your fault, you couldn't have known that those guards were traitors, your uncle's not too happy about that, but I came to tell you some good news" he said, Night Gale turned to him with a curious look, so Flame continued.

"before they could escape, some of the attackers were arrested, and taken to the castle, for interrogation, if we can get them to crack, we might be able to find out who's behind all of this, and hunt them down, and stop it" he said, Night Gale smiled as he sat up, and took a step forward, and cringed as he applied pressure, to the hoof that was cut.

"Well, what do we do until then?" he asked, Flame smiled, "for now, we wait, the Princess's will be informed of the current events in the morning, and then we will be moved to the castle, to speak with her, hopefully, we can avoid this situation again, now come on, we need to get some stuff together" he said as they both walked out of the room.

(The next morning…)

Just as they planned, the Princesses were told of the recent events, when they heard of what happened to Night Gale, they were more than surprised, and just like they planned, they were all called to the castle.

After they arrived, they were escorted to the throne room, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna waited for them.

When they got there, they all explained what happened in greater detail, so that the Princess's would understand, "it appears this is more serious than we thought, if they have managed to infiltrate, the royal guard, we don't know who we can trust" Princess Celestia said as she paced back in forth, in front of them.

They just watched her pace back and forth, until Night Gale spoke up, "with all due respect, your highness, when they attacked me, they wanted some of my blood, but why, I thought you said it only works with the pony that killed the victim?" he said, the Princess stopped and turned to him, and sighed.

"yes I did say that, before the book was hidden, many ponies tried to bring back loved ones who were killed, by using the blood of the ponies, brothers, sisters, fathers, but it never worked, it has to be the blood of the pony who killed them, perhaps they thought, since your Flame's son, that it would work" she said, Night Gale just looked down, as his dad came up and placed a hoof on his shoulder.

Just as Flame was about to speak up, the door to the throne room entered, and a royal guard ran into the room, "my apologies for interrupting, your highness" he said, the Princess took a deep breath, "I understand, what have you managed to get out of our friends" she said, the guard frowned.

"that's the problem, we can't get him to even talk, we've tried everything" he said, just then Flame got an idea, he walked up to the Princess, "pardon me, Princess, but if you let me, I think I can get him to talk, I know a few tricks" he said with a smile, Celestia looked down at him with a curious look, she looked down to her side and saw her sister, had a confident smile on her face.

She smiled back and turned to Flame, and simple nodded her head.

(Canterlot castle, royal guard interrogation room)

As they walked up to the large room where he was being held, the looked into the window, and saw the assassin, calmly sitting in a chair, with a royal guard trying to get him to talk, but he said nothing, after a few minutes, the guard came out with a disappointed look on his face, Flame looked to the side, as Shining Armor handed him a small headset, "be careful, this guy is tricky" he said and Flame nodded, and made his way into the room.

After he opened the door and stepped inside, the door swung shut and closed behind him, leaving just him and the assassin, he looked towards the large black window, even though he couldn't see through it, he knew that they were watching him.

He took a deep breath and walked over to the table, and took seat, the assassin didn't even look up, and he just kept staring at the table, as if in a trance.

Flame decided to start off, in a calm and simple manner, "well, I'm going to assume, you already know who I am, why don't we start by you telling me your name, just so we get to know each other" he said, the assassin acted as if he didn't even know he was there, and said nothing, Flame sighed heavily.

"Okay then, let's get right down to it then, who sent you?" he said, the assassin raised his head slightly and looked straight into Flame's eyes, but still said nothing, "were you purposely sent to attack my son, or were you just trying to get to me?" he asked, the assassin just kept staring at him.

"you know, not talking isn't going to help you at all, all you have to do is tell me what I want to know and I'll be on my way, nice and easy" he said, the assassin still remained silent, just then Flame's heard his headset turn on.

"_get out of there Flame, he's not talking"_ he heard Shining Armor said, Flame took a deep breath and got up from his seat, and made his way to the door, just as he reached up for the handle, he heard a voice speak up from behind him, "you'll never stop us" he heard the voice say, he stopped instantly, and lowered his hoof, and slowly turned around.

He saw he assassin sitting up straighter, and looking at him with a sinister smile, Flame took a deep breath and walked back over to the table, and sat down across from him.

"What makes you say that?" Flame asked curious, the assassin just laughed, "look at you, your pathetic, and living in your little world, where everything is perfect, you're just like all the others, having the wool pulled over your eyes, but ponies like myself, we can see though it, and look at the true side of things, you live in a perfect little world, where everything is good, but it is just an illusion, and when the master returns, he will help to see through the lies, and open the truth to all who will follow him, but you, you and those who fight, will be destroyed" he said with a calm voice the entire time, Flame just sat there and listened.

Flame took a deep breath, "and what makes you think, he will give you what you want?" Flame said, the assassin just looked at him with a blank face, so Flame continued, "because from what I know, he was lying, back stabbing murdered, when he no longer needs you, he'll finish you off, he can't be trusted, and besides, you would need my blood to finish the ritual, and last time I checked, you don't have it yet" he said getting up, and making his way to the door.

Just as he did, he heard the assassin laughing "Or so you think" he said, this made Flame stop in his tracks, and turn to face him, the assassin had a wide smile on his face, Flame frowned and walked up to him, "what are you talking about?" Flame asked with a serious look on his face, the assassin smiled at him, as Flame walked up to the table, next to him.

"if we've managed to infiltrate the royal guard, who's to say we didn't infiltrate, the staff of captain Shining Armor's house, and extract what we need from you, while you were sleeping" he said looking up at him, Flame frowned and got closer to him.

"Where are the others, who sent you, and where is this ritual going to take place?" he asked, the assassin merely smiled, he looked towards the window, straight at the others watching them, and then turned back to Flame.

On the other side of the window, they watched as the assassin told Flame of the location, they saw his eyes widen in surprise, they watched as Flame walked up to the door, and left the room, and walked up to them, his eyes wide in shock.

"What did he tell you?" Comet asked, taking a step closer, Flame looked at all of them, "he said it was taking place at the old castle of the royal pony sisters, and that we don't have much time, they will perform the ritual soon" he said, looking at the Princesses who had shocked looks on their faces.

After a few minutes of silence, Celestia spoke up, "now that we know of their plan, we need to get ready, we shall talk in the throne room" she said as they all walked out.

(Canterlot castle, throne room)

After they returned to the throne room, they all started making plans on how to stop them, but they knew they couldn't just charge in, they needed to have a contingency plan, just in case things would go from bad to worse.

"we can't just barge in there, it could be a trap" Shining Armor yelled, as they all argued, even Twilight and her friends argued about the right thing to do, "but we can't let him return, you saw what happened last time, we can't risk it, we need to act now" Comet yelled back, both the Princess's just watched at the chaos around them, until they finally stepped in.

"Enough!" Celestia shouted over them, silencing them all, they all turned to her, "while most of your options are good, we need to think about the worst-case scenario, if we are unable to make it in time, we need to be prepared, in case of Shadow Blaze's return, but we need to calm down, and think, who has any ideas about what to do?" she asked, and the others began talking amongst themselves, but the entire time, Luna had an idea, but she knew her sister wouldn't agree, but it was their only hope.

"I have an idea, but you won't like is sister" she said speaking up, Celestia turned to her younger sister, with a curious look, "Luna, if worse comes to worse, anything is a good idea, what is it you have in mind?" she asked, Luna looked down for a minute, and then back up at her sister, she looked straight into her older sister's eyes, giving a certain look, that only Celestia would understand, "well, we could always…" she said, hesitating the last part looking into her sisters eyes.

Suddenly, Celestia's eyes shot open, she finally understood what her sister was hinting at, and she was revolted by the idea, "no, I won't let you do that, it's too risky, I forbid it!" she shouted the last part, but Luna held firm, "Tia, you know it's our only hope, if I don't even we won't be able to stand up to him, it's our only hope" Luna said confident, but Celestia wouldn't have any of it.

"no Luna, I forbid you of doing that, it's far too risky, there has to be another way" she said with an angered look on her face, as she stared down at Luna, who stared back equally as angry, and her sisters ignorance, the others just watched as the sisters argued back and forth, until Flame decided to speak up.

"okay, can somepony please, explain what is going on, I think we should get to know the plan" he said, Celestia turned to him, still angry, "what Luna is suggesting, isn't a plan, it's not a plan, it's suicide" she said, glancing angrily at her sister, who just glared at her.

"well, how do we know, if we haven't heard it" he said, Celestia looked at him, and sighed angrily, "Luna, is suggesting we bring Nightmare Moon back" she said, and they all gasped, just as Twilight spoke up.

"But, how can she, I thought she was destroyed, when we brought Luna back, using the elements" she said with worry, evident in her voice, Celestia took a deep breath, and turned to her student.

"That is where you are wrong, Nightmare Moon wasn't destroyed, just sealed away, as you know, Nightmare Moon was created as an embodiment of Luna's anger, jealousy and rage, she cannot be destroyed, she is a part of Luna, and in that form, Luna becomes ten times as powerful" she said, Flame turned to all the others, and then back to the Princess.

"with all due respect your highness, if it comes to it, and Shadow Blaze does return, I think we need as much power on our side as we can get" he said, with confidence, the others began to murmur in agreement, Luna was surprised that they were actually taking her side on it, Celestia felt outnumbered, but she still had a feeling it was a bad idea.

She took a deep breath, and finally calmed down, "that may be so, but one thing she is forgetting, as her anger and jealousy grew, it corrupted her, until Nightmare Moon fully took over, that power remains dormant inside her, if she were to use that power, and become Nightmare Moon again, if she waited too long, I fear it might consume her again" she said with a sad look on her face, they all looked at each other, they knew she was right.

Luna walked up to her sister, "Tia, I'm stronger now than I was then, I can control it, you know I won't ever let it take control of me again, I won't put you through that again, but you need to trust me to do this, you know it's the right way, it's our only hope" she said in a comforting tone, Celestia sighed heavily, and turned to her, a sad look in her eyes.

"you can't know for sure" she said, and Luna smiled up at her, "I promise you, I won't ever become that again, not after all the pain it's caused both of us, but you need to trust me with this, I won't let you down" she said in a comforting tone, Celestia looked away for a minute, and then back at her little sister, and smiled at her, she knew she was right, "alright Luna, I trust you" she said, and wrapped her younger sister in a hug, one that Luna greatly returned.

The other just watched, not wanting to disturb the moment.

After they separated, Celestia turned to the others, with a calm face, "unfortunately, even with that power, we would still fall to Shadow Blaze's; we are running out of options" she said thinking about it, but then a look appeared on her face, one that none of them have ever seen, not even Luna, "what is it, sister?" she asked, Celestia turned to all of them.

"I think I know the answer, there's only one other creature, that would dare stand up to Shadow, but it will be difficult, to get him on our side" she said as she began making her way to the door, "him?" Flame asked as they all followed after her.

"We'll need the elements of harmony" she said as they all followed after her, as they exited the room.

They're destination, the Castle statue garden.

**A/N: well, that was interesting, who could celestia be talking about, but I'm sure you can guess pretty easily, hope you enjoyed, next chapter will be up soon, and see you then.**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: well, I'm back again, with yet another chapter for you guys, now is when we near the end of this story, hope you all enjoy.**

**Shadows of the Past: chapter 11: the unexpected ally**

After they left the throne room, Princess Celestia had a guard bring her the Elements of Harmony, as they headed down to the statue garden, but the others were still confused as to why she was leading them there, they had a feeling why, but hoped they were wrong, so Celestia explained to them.

She knew, that even if Luna could manage to control her true power as Nightmare Moon, it still might not be enough to, take on Shadow Blaze, in his fullest power, they would need the help of a creature, that is just as powerful as they were, their old arch-nemesis, the god of chaos himself, Discord.

After they explained why they would need his help, they were all shocked that she would even consider trusting him, but they trusted her judgment, but a part of them, still had their doubts, as they walked Flame caught up to the princess, he walked by her.

"Um, with all due respect your highness, but why do we need his help again?" he asked, she looked down at him with a calm face, as they entered the garden, "Discord, is the only one, besides us, who is capable of defeating Shadow Blaze, as you said, we need all the power we can get, we may not have any other choice" she said looking forward.

"True, but who's to say he'll even agree, why would he help us?" he asked again, she didn't look down at him, but answered his question, "I have a few ideas" she said as they approached the statue they were looking for, there he stood, the god of chaos, still frozen in statue, in the same position as he was, when he was last defeated by, Twilight and her friends, with the elements.

They stopped in front of the statue, Celestia looked it up and down, with a suspicious eye, and then turned to Twilight and her friends, and levitated the box, which held the elements in it, she opened it, and the elements shined as they always did, making them all smile.

"It was the elements who sealed him in stone, and they are the only thing that can free him" she said levitating them to all of Twilight's friends, Twilight hesitated and looked at her teacher in concern, she just smiled back.

"Are you sure, Princess?" Twilight asked, as Flame walked up to her, Celestia just nodded her head, Twilight sighed and levitated the tiara on to her head, and turned to Flame, "you think you can still handle it?" he asked in concern, she just did her best to smile and nuzzled under his chin, "it has been a while, but I think we still can" she said and he took a step back, all of her friends, gathered in their formation, and closed their eyes.

They all focused their energy, clenching their eyes shut, the others watched with worry and anticipation, as the wind around them began to pick up, and swirl around the girls, Flame felt a nervous sweat fall down his face, as they all slowly lifted into the air, as their necklaces began to glow, as well as the top of Twilight's tiara.

Soon, the wind around them began to go faster, making their manes flap around, suddenly Twilight opened her eyes, only to reveal a bright white light, instead of their normal color, and when the power reached its peak, and just as they hoped, a large rainbow colored blast, shot out and headed straight for the statue.

The beam hit it, and they all watched through the blinding light as pieces of the statue began to crack, Flame looked to the girls, and saw that the light began to die down, and they gently landed on the ground, when they stopped they opened their eyes, they rubbed their heads in pain, Flame ran up to her with a concerned look, she turned to him, and threw her hooves around his neck, he hugged her back, but their moment was ruined, when the statue began to crack more, and they heard a heavy groan, come from the statue, as it began to fall away, revealing actual flesh.

Soon, the entire stone casing fell away and their he stood, he groaned again, as he fell of the pedestal, and landed on the ground in front of them, he pushed himself up, he stood just as tall as Celestia, who just stared at him, with a calm, yet serious expression.

He fully pushed himself up, and began looking around, with a confused look on his face, "what, what is this, where am I, and how did I get out of that stone?" he said looking around, they all just watched him, as Celestia cleared her throat, getting his attention, he turned to her, and his eyes opened in surprise, but quickly narrowed, in suspicion.

"Hello again, Discord" she said flatly, she stood up straight, and dusted himself off; he looked down and saw Luna step beside her sister, he gave a fake smile, "oh well this is a surprise, to what do I owe the honor your majesties" he said giving a fake bow, but the Princess's paid no attention to his rudeness.

"It's been a long time, how are you?" Celestia said, in a calm tone, confusing all the others, with her kindness, he gave her a suspicious look, but decided to play along.

"well, I'm good, aside from being stuck in stone for the past few years, but how did I get out, surely you didn't do it" he said looking at her, she kept a straight face, "no, they did" she said nodding towards Twilight and her friends, Discord looked to them, and his eyes widened in surprise again, and he smiled at them, "well, this is a surprise, it's good to see you again, Twilight Sparkle, I trust life has been good?" he said as he started laughing, Twilight just scowled at him, as Flame took a defensive stance in front of her.

He stopped laughing, when Celestia cleared her throat, "by now, I'm sure you're wondering, why we freed you" she said in a confident tone, Discord brought up his bear paw to his chin, and thought for a moment, "well, considering that you would never free me, unless something seriously bad has happened that wasn't me, I guess you could say the question has been intriguing me" he said as he chuckled, Celestia cleared her throat and he listened intently.

"Very well, I'll get straight to the point then, we need your help" she said in a calm tone, they all fell silent, especially Discord, who had a shocked look on his face, suddenly he jumped up in the air, and hovered in place, and burst out laughing, almost to the point where he lost his breath.

Celestia just kept a straight face, trying to keep her cool, the others just stared at him angrily, after he calmed down a bit, he remained floating in the air, "oh that's a good one, why in the world, would I ever even consider helping you" he said looking at her curiously, she just smiled at him, "I think you will, if you ever want to go free" she said, as her horn glowed, Discord looked at her confused, and then looked down at his hands, he opened his eyes wide and saw a pair of shackles dangling there, he recognized them as an old binding spell, one that nopony has used in centuries.

He looked from the shackles up to Celestia, who had a clever smile on her face, he frowned, but he shook it off as the shackles faded away, but he knew they were still there, "well, it appears you've bound me, well played Celestia, even I don't use this type of magic anymore, this must be very serious" he said with a smile.

Celestia's smile disappeared, and she looked up at him, "it's simple, you help us, and I let you go, so long as we succeed" she said, they all tuned to her in confusion, even Luna looked up at her in shock, "Princess, what are you doing, we can't let him go" Flame said to her.

Discord turned to him and smiled, he snapped his fingers, and disappeared in a flash, and appeared next to Flame, startling him, Discord looked him up and down, as he floated in front of him, "so, you must be the famous hero, Flame, not quite what I expected" he said floating away, how Discord knew him, confused Flame.

"how do you know who I am, we've never met before" he said, and Discord started laughing, "oh please, just because I was frozen in stone, doesn't mean I don't hear things, I know exactly who you are, and the many heroic things you've done, and also, much to my surprise, your Twilight's husband, I must say, you two are perfect for each other, your both to brave for your own good" he said laughing, Night Gale and Star Dust took a step forward, angry looks on their faces.

"hey, nopony, makes fun of our parents" Night Gale said, Discord stopped laughing, and turned to them, his eyes opened in shock, as he looked from the two younger ponies and back to Flame and Twilight, just then he burst out laughing again, "oh this is priceless, you two actually had a family together, I can certainly see the family resemblance, this is hilarious" he said as he continued laughing, as he hovered in the air, until Celestia cleared her throat, catching his attention.

"as I was saying" she said, and Discord appeared in front of her, "ah yes very well, I appears I will have to help you out of another problem, what's happened now?" he asked with a smile, Celestia looked down for a minute, and then looked at him, a more serious look in her eyes.

"it's the Shadow League, they have returned once again" she said, and another heavy silence came over them, nopony was laughing, not even Discord, Celestia watched as the smile fell from his face, and he stood up straighter.

A confused look appeared on Discord's face, "but…I thought they were defeated, after your hero there, killed Shadow Blaze, how is that possible?" he asked, she shook her head, "even we don't know, and that is why we need your help, they have stolen the black spell book, and plan on using the resurrection spell, to bring Shadow Blaze back, neither of us, want that to happen, and you know it" she said looking at him seriously, he just looked away for a minute, and then turned to all of them, "well, it seems that you are in a pretty serious situation, normally I would never agree to help you, but I suppose I can put aside my dislike towards you, since we both seem to have a common interest, I may not have as much as a grudge against him, but I do find that pathetic excuse of a so called god, rather arrogant, so if my options are limited, I guess you have a deal Celestia, I will help you stop him, but you better keep your end of the deal" he said, Celestia just stared at him.

"I will, I give you my word as Princess, and as an alicorn, and you know an alicorn is bound to their word, until it is carried through" she said, and Discord reached out a claw, and she took it, and they shook.

"Come, we must return to the throne room, we have plans to make" she said as they all turned and returned to the castle.

This wasn't going to be easy.

**A/N: well, that was very interesting; it seems our hero's will have to coup with Discord, until they have completed their mission, see you guys next time, for the next chapter.**


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: hey guys, I finally got around to writing another chapter for this story, and the end is coming closer, well, hope you all enjoy.**

**Shadows of the past: chapter 12: time to strike**

After they freed discord, they all returned to the throne room, where they would split up and get themselves ready, Flame and the others had gone off to the armory to get ready, leaving Celestia, Luna, and Discord alone in the throne room, Luna and Celestia stood side by side looking out the window.

"are you sure this is the right way to do it, we could just be wandering into a trap, we should take time and get more information out of the prisoner" Luna said looking up at her sister, Celestia took a deep breath, "normally, I would agree with you, but if what the prisoner said was true, then we may already be too late, but if this is our only chance to stop him, then we must take it" she said, just as they heard another walking up beside them.

"you two sure do know how to make a lot of enemies" Discord said, as he stopped right next to Celestia, she took a deep breath, and he continued, "just so you know, I will hold you to your promise" he said, she sighed but didn't turn to him, "I gave you my word, and I will keep it, but we must succeed first, we are the last options to stop him, it's unlikely he can take all three of us" she said, she heard Discord sigh.

"for once I hope your right Celestia, because as you know, if he wins, even I won't be able to match up to the destruction and mayhem he will bring, I will do what I can to help, but not for you, I am doing this, because I refuse to live in a world where he is the king" he said, Celestia looked down for a minute, and then turned to him.

"we agreed to put aside our differences this once, we'll need to work together to stop him, that means trusting each other, we'll trust you, if you trust us" she said extending out her hoof, Discord smiled, "I just told you, I will do what I can to make sure he falls, even if it means placing my trust in you, you have a deal" he said as he shook her hoof.

(Canterlot castle, royal guard armory)

They all went around the room, finding their armor and their weapons, Flame stood in front of the mirror, he was already dressed in his armor, he was holding the helmet at his side, he took a deep breath and then sighed as he lifted the helmet, and slowly placed it over his head, as he did he turned and walked away, and walked up to his parents, who were busy putting on their armor, he felt guilty about bringing them into this, when it was his fight.

"Mom, Dad, Flare, I wanted to apologize, for all of this" he said, they all gave him confused looks, "why would you want to apologize, you didn't do anything wrong" his father said, Flame looked away for a moment and then turned back, "yes I did, I dragged you all into this, I didn't want to put any of you in danger, this isn't exactly how I wanted this to go, this is a fight I need to take care of, and you shouldn't have been brought into it" he said with a guilty look on his face.

He heard a chuckle and felt a hoof on his shoulder; he looked up and saw his father smiling at him, "none of this is your fault son, there's no way you could have known this was going to happen, and besides we haven't seen much action in years, and now we get to see what a great fighter you are in an actual fight" he said with a chuckle, even at an older age, he still looked having a confident talk from his dad, and he smiled up at him, as Shining Armor walked up to them, "everypony's ready, the Princess wants us all in the throne room, to make the final plans" he said as he walked out, and all the others did as well.

(Canterlot castle, throne room)

After they all left the armory, they made their way to the throne room, all of them dressed in armor, even Night Gale and Star Dust, dressed in the armor that they wore when the stopped the fleet from destroying the city, even Twilight and her friends, were dressed in their element armor, they had a feeling that if it came to it, they could use the elements against him, like they did last time, all they could do was hope that it worked.

They all gathered around and listened to the Princess speak, "alright, we know what we must do, you will take an airship and patrol the area of the forest, for any signs of activity, if we find any, we will send in the rest of the fleet, and stop them, before this gets out of control" she said in a calming tone, they all looked around at each other, some of them had questions, but Flame was the first to ask, "might I ask Princess, what if we don't get there in time, and he does come back" he said in a curious look on his face, she looked down at him and then sighed deeply.

"if it comes to that, then my sister and I, as well as Discord will be there to aid you, we will do what we can to stop him, last time he caught us by surprise, but this time, we will have a surprise for him" she said with a smile, and discussed the rest of their plan.

They would take the airship, and scan the old castle and the surrounding forest for any sings of the leagues activity, and if they saw it, they would act and capture all of them, before it would end badly, and after they were all satisfied with the plan, they left and headed for the air field.

(Canterlot castle, air field)

They walked out of the castle and on to the field, only to find the ship was already prepared to take off, it was only waiting for them, as they all stopped in front of the ramp, they heard the usual loud hiss, as the ramp began to lower, Flame turned to all the others, "alright, we all know the plan, let's find these bastards and out an end to this, once and for all!" he shouted over the loud noise, they all shouted in agreement.

After that he smiled and they all headed up the ramp, and up into the main flight deck, Shining Armor turned to the captain of the ship, "were all set, take her up" he said and he nodded, and began giving orders, the ponies in the room, began pushing buttons and flipping switches, the listened as he room shook lightly and the engines roared to life, the looked out the windows as the ship slowly began to lift off the ground.

The engines became louder, until they eventually died down, into their normal level, and the watched as the ship rose up into the clouds, and they were off, they all had one thing on their mind, and they knew what they had to do.

(Canterlot castle, throne room)

The two Princess's and Discord watched as the, airship flew off into the sky, heading towards the forest, "we'll be there to help, when you need it" Celestia uttered under her breath, as they continued to watch the ship grow farther and farther away.

**A/N: so, the end is growing nearer, soon we will see the climactic battle between, good and evil, see you all next time, peace.**


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: hey guys, I'm back and with the next chapter for this story, we are getting closer and closer to the end of this story and one step closer to the series finale, hope you all enjoy, and review.**

**Shadows of the Past: chapter 13: darkness rising**

After the airship left the Canterlot air field, it headed straight for its destination, the Everfree Forest, not long after they departed, they found themselves, flying over the large expanse, that was the Everfree Forest, the forest was very large and dark, and even though it was still day, the sun was beginning to set, and they started using their search light to scan the forest below, they even used their radar to pick up any suspicious activity below, so far they found nothing.

Flame and his friends stared out the windows at the forest below, doing what they could to aid their search, they had been flying around to what seemed like hours, and they started to believe that it was all for nothing, "we can't give up, we need to keep searching" Shining Armor said trying to convince them, to stay optimistic, but it was quickly failing.

Soon, Flame got the impression that it was all a trap, and he turned to Shining Armor, "wait, what if it's a trap?" he asked, Shining Armor looked down at him with a confused look, "why would it be a trap?" he asked, Flame looked up at him, "we got the information from the assassin, but we never knew if he was telling the truth, we could be just walking right into a trap, we should head back, and have a full scan of the area, with ground teams, so we can fully secure the area, we have no idea what they might try" Flame said, Shining Armor thought about it for a moment and realized he could be right, they just might be heading straight for a trap.

"You could be right, Lieutenant, turn the ship around, we are heading straight back to the castle" he said as they slowly began to turn away.

(Everfree Forest, castle of the royal pony sisters)

And older stallion stood looking out of the old windows, he watched as the airship roamed over the forest, he had a spyglass pressed up, he lowered it and smiled, just as another pony walked up to his side, "the ritual is ready sir" he said, the older one smiled, "excellent, it seems our guests are having trouble, it's time we bring them here, you know what to do Lieutenant, have it ready" he said and the other pony walked away, the older one looked back through the spyglass, a wicked smile on his face.

(Royal Guard airship, Crimson Sky, main flight deck)

After he gave the order, the pilots began to press buttons, and they slowly felt the ship began to turn, but before they could start doing that, "wait sir! We're getting readings on the radar, there seems to be some activity in the forest below" he said, Shining Armor and Flame looked at each other and rushed over to his side, to see what the problem was.

They walked up to him, and peered over his shoulders at the radar, every time it passed by, multiple dots would light up, saying that there was activity below, they all looked at each other, "it could just be some animals, right?" Flame asked, the pony shook his head, "it might be, but we are also picking up, large traces of magic, from the same spot" he said, Shining Armor thought for a moment.

"Alright, get everypony ready, we'll investigate on hoof, get your gear ready-" but was cut off by a loud ear-piercing explosion, that shook the entire ship, throwing all of them off their hooves, as they did the room filled with a pulsing red light, and a siren blared across the room, Shining Armor pushed himself up, and turned to the main console.

"What happened?" he shouted over the alarm, the pony behind the counter pushed himself over to the computer, just as he did, the ship began leaning heavily to the side, almost making him lose his balance, his eyes widened as he looked at the screen.

"We've been hit by a very powerful blast of magic, it's shut down the entire ship, the engines aren't starting, were going down!" he shouted.

Flame looked all around, despite the ship leaning, he still managed to stand up, he looked to the side and saw his family struggling to stand, he jumped over to them, and wrapped his hooves around them, "everypony hold on to something, it's going to be rough" he shouted as held his family close, in fear of losing them, then everything went black as a loud explosion was heard.

(Later…)

Flame felt a throbbing pain in his head, he tried opening his eyes, but found he could barely see, he felt soft grass under his hooves, he tried to push himself up, but fell back down with a pained grunt.

He looked around and saw large pieces of metal scattered across his view, small fires around him, he tried calling out for help, but nothing came out of his mouth, he fell back down again, but soon felt himself being dragged away, he tried to fight but he was too weak, and he felt himself get placed on something.

Then everything went black.

**A/N: well that was cool, come back next time to see what happened to Flame and his family, hope you all enjoyed, only a few chapters left.**


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: here we are again, the end is nearing for this story, these will be the last few chapters left, only about two maybe three more chapters, and then this story will finally be complete, and then it will be time for the finale, hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

**Shadows of the Past: chapter 14: the resurrection**

The last thing Flame remembered was something dragging him away, from what he thought was the crash site, but he saw no sign of any of his family or friends.

He groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, due to the crash leaving him injured, he still had trouble focusing, he found himself lying on his side, he pushed himself up and rubbed his head trying to make the pain go away, he looked in front of him and saw a group of ponies walking around, they didn't seem to notice him waking up, he looked down and saw his hooves were chained up, he followed them until he saw his family and friend lying unconscious beside him, he looked to the other side and saw more of his friends, all knocked but slowly waking up, he looked around and saw that they were in a very large room, Flame figured it to be the old throne room of the ancient castle.

Next to him he saw his family, "Twilight, Twilight wake up" he called out quietly, she began to stir and open her eyes, she slowly stood up, when she moved her hooves, she saw the chains, and began panicking, "Flame, what's going on?" she asked quietly, he looked around for a minute, as his son and daughter stood up as well, rubbing their heads, he gave a sigh of relief to know that they were okay, "I'm not sure, but this isn't good, we need to find a way to escape" he said looking around, but was stopped when they heard a sinister laugh.

They all turned to the front and saw an older stallion walking up to them, a wide smile on his face, "I'm glad to see that you are awake, we wouldn't want you to miss this, you're the guests of honor" he said walking right up to Flame, and smiling.

"What honor would that be?' Flame asked, as all the others around him began to wake up, the older stallion smiled, "why, to witness the rebirth of this world, and it all starts with you, Flame" he said leaning, making Flame lean back.

Flame had a confused look on his face, "but, I thought you already got some of my blood, why did you need me here?" he asked, the older pony just gave out a small chuckle, "it's amazing that a great stallion, such as yourself, is still so completely oblivious, to the truth" he said as he began pacing back and forth, Flame and his friend just listened and waited for him to continue.

"the assassin telling you that we had your blood, was all a part of the plan, to lure you and your friends out here, to try to stop us, but you fell right into our trap, and now that you're here, the real fun can begin, hold them down" he shouted the last part, and a large amount of ponies came from behind, and held all of the down, except for Flame, who tried to stop them, but the chains prevented that from happening.

Two other ponies grabbed Flame from behind, one held his hoof back, causing him to grunt in pain, the other lifted up his free hoof and held it in place.

The older pony smiled as he unsheathed a knife, and a small vile, and slowly began walking towards him, the others all began struggling to break free, but had no luck, "no Flame!" Twilight cried out, Flame continued to struggle, but the ponies behind him, held on tightly.

He smiled as he placed the knife against his hoof, and pressed down, making Flame cringe, he had been hurt more than this, but it was still painful, being cut with a knife, Flame closed his eyes hard, as the pony began cutting along his hoof, Flame opened his eyes and looked down, he saw blood dripping down his hoof, the leader smiled as he held the vile under the dripping blood, and watched it fall inside.

"No!" Flame cried but it fell on deaf ears, the leader smiled when the vile filled up, he took it away and capped it, while the ponies all let go of Flame and his friends.

The leader smiled, as he turned and walked away, "since your son's didn't work, we needed yours, and this is the last thing we need to complete the ritual, bring the book" he said putting the vile in his cloak, Flame cringed and applied pressure, he ripped off a bit of cloth from the cloak that was under his armor, and tied it around the wound, it wasn't a deep cut, but it was enough the make it bleed.

Two other ponies walked up to the leader, they had a tray on their backs, in the center of the tray, there was a large black book, with a large amount of unknown symbols, even Twilight didn't recognize them, in all her studies, over the years.

The leader smiled and walked up to a large circle, made of stones, luckily for him, he was a unicorn, he opened the book with his magic, "bring the necklace" he commanded, another pony brought him a chest, inside was a shiny amulet, Flame and the others remembered it as Shadow's, Flame tried breaking free, but the chains would not allow him to move.

"Stop! You don't know what you are doing; stop this, before it's too late!" Flame shouted, the leader looked back at him, "oh, I do know what I'm doing, I'm going to save this world, by bringing back its true king" he said as he placed the amulet inside the circle.

He placed the book on a table that was made out of some stones, he took out the vile of blood, and stepped inside the circle, "may you lead us out of these dark times and into a new age of light, Master Shadow Blaze" he said as he uncapped the vile, and tilted it.

He smiled as he poured out the blood, it dripped from the vile, and on to the amulet, covering it in Flame's blood, when it was all out, he threw the vile to the side and turned back to the spell book, and began flipping through the pages, "oh what power these spells could possess, it will change the world" he said as he flipped through the pages.

Flame and the others just watched helplessly, as he began the ritual, wishing that the Princess's would show up to help, but yet they did not.

He smiled as he found the right page, and turned to the others, "and so the new era of peace, shall begin" he said as he turned back to the circle, and placed the book on the table, he slowly began to read from the book, in a language that was unfamiliar to them, it was the ancient language, it had never been spoken for thousands of years, but he seemed to know what he was reading.

He began speaking faster, they looked around and saw nothing happening, but soon they got their answer, when they felt the wind began to pick up around them, it all seemed to be blowing in one direction, straight to the circle.

The leader noticed this and smiled, as he began to read the text faster, he kept reading until one point, where they almost had to cover their eyes, just as he finished reading the text, a bright light flashed up, making them all cover their eyes, even the leader dropped the book, and backed up, barely looking through the light, he saw the amulet began to lift off the ground, and glow brighter.

Then in an instant, the light disappeared, and a bright light shot up into the ceiling, crashing through it, and blasting into the sky, the room around them was shaking violently.

(Canterlot castle, throne room)

From the window of the throne room, Celestia and Luna watched in shock and fear, as the beam of light shot into the sky from the distance, it wasn't too bright for them, but they watched as it died down, and vanished, Luna looked up at Celestia with a worried look, Celestia took a deep breath, "it has begun" she said with a straight look on her face, but Luna could see the fear in her eyes.

(Everfree Forest, castle of the royal pony sisters, throne room)

Soon the light began to die down, and the rumbling died as well, Flame and the others pushed themselves up, and turned their attention to the other side of the room, where the beam of light had shot up into the sky, Flame's eyes widened in pure fear, when he saw what was in the place of the bright light.

There in the middle of the stone circle, there was a pony with a jet black coat, and a midnight blue mane, he was leaning down on his front hooves, but he slowly pushed himself up, and lifted his head, the amulet dangling around his neck, he took a deep breath, and slowly opened his eyes, revealing blood red eyes.

Flame felt his heart beating intensely against his chest, almost as if it was going to rip out, they all watched in sheer terror, Flame found that he could only whisper his name.

"Shadow Blaze…"

**A/N: well, that got really interesting, Flame and his friends, failed to stop Shadow from returning, how will they stop him, or will they even be able to, come back next time, and see what happens, peace.**


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: here it is, the next chapter, thank you all for the support, this will be one of the last two or three chapters, depends on how long this one ends up to be, but either way, hope you all enjoy.**

**Shadows of the Past: chapter 15: duel of fate**

Flame and his friend and family just watched in terror at the one pony they thought they had defeated, was standing right in front of them, alive and well.

Shadow Blaze began looking around, as if he didn't know where he was, the leader of the group walked up to him slowly and took a bow as all the other joined in, "master Shadow Blaze, you have returned to us" he said with a smile, Shadow Blaze looked down at him, with a curious look, "and who might you be?" he asked, his voice sounded just as it did, those many years ago, it was enough to send Flame's blood running cold.

"we are but your humble servants, the last remaining members of the Shadow League, we have been trying for years to bring you back to this world" he said bowing, but he looked up, shadow took a deep breath, he had no idea had long it had been, "how long have I been gone, and how did you bring me back?" he said, the leader rose up and the others did the same.

"it has been some time, almost ten years, we brought you back with this" he said levitating the spell book in front of him, the sight of it made Shadow Blaze's eyes widen, but he smiled as he took it and levitated it up to his face, "interesting, I thank you, you have my gratitude, you may be of use to me in the future, what of my apprentice, Night Wing?" he asked the leader frowned, "unfortunately, we could not bring him back, the one who killed him has died, the spell requires the blood of the one who killed them, in order to bring them back" he said, for the briefest moment a look of sadness appeared on Shadow's face, but it was gone, he had still failed to notice Flame and the others.

"we hope that you will help us, my lord, the world has changed in many ways, we hope you will help us, to change it, make it a better world, as you did before" he said, Shadow smiled.

"Yes indeed, but that time shall come soon, we will need to replenish our ranks, then we shall strike, and nopony will stand in our way" he said with a wide smile, the leader smiled as well and cleared his throat, shadow turned to look down at him, "with all due respect my lord, we hope you will accept this gift, that we brought you, in honor of your return" he said with a smile as he pointed toward Flame, shadow followed his hoof until his eyes rested on Flame, his eyes opened in shock, but then narrowed, "you!" he said looking right at Flame.

Flame felt his heart stop as he looked at him in the eyes, he could feel Shadow Blaze's gaze piercing into him, Shadow started laughing as he slowly walked over to him, "well, well, well, this certainly is a surprise, it's been a long time Flame" he said as he came up to him.

Flame tried to struggle but the chains stopped him, soon Shadow Blaze stood right in front of him, "here you are, chained up like a poor defenseless animal, you certainly have aged a bit" he said as he leaned down to him, Flame just stared into his eyes, "it's not possible, I killed you" Flame said still in disbelief, Shadow just smiled, and looked at the hoof that was cut.

"Yes that's true, but it's you who brought me back, with your generous donation, now I can finish what I started, and it also seems we have a few new faces here" he said turning and walked up to Night Gale, and leaning down, just the sight of him coming close to his son, sent anger into his mind and he fought against the chains, but failed, Twilight felt the same but knew it was impossible to break the chains.

"And who might you be?" he asked, looking down at Night Gale with a smile, as he reached out his hoof, Night Gale tried to turn away, but felt Shadow's hoof pull him forward and look him in the eyes, "it's not very polite, to ignore a question" he said, just the Flame spoke up, "don't you dare touch him, or I swear I will kill you" he said struggling against the chains, Shadow retracted his hoof, and turned to Flame, then looked at Night Gale, then he started chuckling.

"Well, this is interesting; this must be your son…and your daughter" he said glancing at Star Dust, who was shaking in fear, prompting Night Gale to step in front of her, Shadow Blaze walked back in front of Flame, "well, you and Twilight certainly have been busy, they truly are your foals, they have the same courage in them as you do, but, as fun as this reunion has been, I have things to take care of" he said as the leader walked up to him, "we thought it would make you happy, if you saw them die right here, right now" he said, shadow said nothing, and the leader motioned for the others to attack.

The other members of the league, began slowly walking towards Flame and the others, knives drawn, Flame and the others began to huddle together, the leader smiled as they grew closer, while Shadow watched with a blank expression, but then he smiled slightly, "stop!" he told them and they all turned to him, the leader looked up at him with a confused look, Shadow merely glared at Flame, no noticeable expression on his face.

"If I want my revenge to be complete, I must defeat Flame myself, what do you say Flame, still think you can duel me, unchain him" he said, two of the soldiers looked at each other, but they knew not to question him, so they walked up to him, and unlocked the chains around his hooves, Flame rubbed them as they moved out of the way and took a step forward, facing Shadow, if he had to fight him again, then he will.

"I guess I don't have much of a choice, but I should be allowed to have a knife" Flame said with serious look, Shadow looked at him but then smiled, and nodded to one of the other ponies, who reached into a pack and threw it to him, already in its sheath, Flame took a deep breath and strapped it around his waist and turned to Shadow, anger evident in his eyes.

"you want to fight, have it your way, I killed you before, and I'll do it again if I have too" Flame said getting ready, the other just watched in fear, especially Twilight and her foals, who just watched him in fear, feeling completely helpless, they knew they couldn't do anything to help him.

Shadow stood staring at Flame, and he spread his hooves, "as part of an official duel, first we bow" he said taking a bow, Flame was confused and Shadow smiled, "come now Flame, we mustn't forget the customs You wouldn't want to disappoint your Princess's now would we…I said bow!" he said as his horn glowed, Flame cried out in pain as he felt his body being forced to the ground, unable to control it, Shadow merely smiled.

"excellent, and now" he said as his horn glowed again and a blast of magic shot out at Flame, he saw this coming and dodged to the side, Shadow smiled as his horn glowed shooting powerful blasts of magic, making Flame dodge to the side each time, Flame had never had to dodge that fast, Shadow was much stronger than last time, he turned back to look at his family, the looks of fear on their faces gave him a new strength, he turned to Shadow Blaze an angry look on his face.

"you've become a lot slower Flame, surely this isn't the best you can do" he said in a mocking tone, Flame took a deep breath, "you can threaten me all you like, but nopony threatens my family" he said as he yelled out and charged forward, Shadow merely smiled, Flame unsheathed the knife with his magic, and screamed out, and when he got close enough, he leaped into the air, and swung the blade, Shadow merely moved to the side, and Flame flew past him, but before he landed Flame twisted around and swung the knife again, but missed as Shadow moved his head back.

As soon as he fully turned around Flame started swinging the knife at Shadow, which easily dodged every swipe with ease, the more he did the more angry Flame became.

Until Shadow spread his wings and flew back farther in front of Flame, Flame was breathing hard, causing Shadow to laugh, "your out of practice Flame, I had hoped you would provide a greater challenge, it's far too easy" he said, Flame took a deep breath, "you want me to fight, then I will" he said, Flame's horn started to glow, and a blast of magic shot out at Shadow Blaze, who merely moved to the side, Flame's eyes widened at his speed, Flame focused again and shot another powerful blast, also easily dodged.

Flame stood there, panting heavily, he put almost all of his energy into those blasts, and Shadow dodged them easily, Shadow gave a fake yawn, "I suppose it's up to me to make this more interesting" he said as his horn glowed and he disappeared in a bright flash, leaving them all shocked, Flame looked in all direction as he unsheathed his knife again, and slowly backed up, making sure not to be caught off guard.

Just as he took a few steps back, he heard a swift whooshing sound and turned around swiftly, and cried out in surprise as he was grabbed by the throat, and lifted into the air, he looked down into Shadow's eyes, who was smiling at him, "your making this far too easy" he said Flame began to struggle but Shadow had a tight grip on him, Shadow smiled as he applied pressure, his smile growing wider as he saw Flame desperately trying to gasp out.

Flame tried his best to free himself, but was losing air, he tried another trick and focused his magic, and in a bright flash he was gone, leaving Shadow with a shocked look, he began looking around in all directions, just as he did he heard screaming from behind, he turned around and saw Flame jumping into that air, Shadow barely reacted in time, and dodged back, but not before Flame's blade cut barely into his cheek, when he landed he brought his hoof up and wiped some of the blood away, and chuckled slightly, "impressive, maybe I was wrong, but it's going to take a lot more than that" he said as Shadow unsheathed a knife of his own, and charged forward.

Amazed at his speed, Flame ran to the side, but stopped when Shadow landed in front of him, his horn glowing, Flame cried out in pain as a bolt shot from his horn and hit him, making him fly back, and hit the wall, Flame already felt his strength depilating, the blow stunned him but when his eyesight refocused he saw Shadow charging at him knife pointed forward, Twilight cried out in fear "Flame, look out!" she yelled at him, Flame quickly dodged to the side, as Shadow stopped in front of the wall, and turned around quickly, catching Flame off guard, he brought his hoof around with him, striking Flame across the face, and sending him to the middle of the room.

Flame landed hard with a pained grunt, already feeling drained, he tried to push himself up, he looked up and saw Shadow walking towards him, and angry look on his face, he pushed himself up, and turned to face Shadow, but was shocked when he saw that he wasn't there, he turned around and was once again grabbed by the neck and pulled up to eye level.

Flame looked into his eyes, "your still just a pathetic unicorn Flame, I underestimated you once, I won't make that same mistake again, and as much fun as it's been, there's no more fun that I can find here" he said as he threw Flame to the other side of the room, almost in front of his family, "dad, no!" Night Gale cried out as Flame landed hard, and rolled on to his side.

Flame knew he was losing, he could barely push himself up, he tried and looked up but his weakness got the better of him and he fell to the ground, his vision blurry from weakness, and tears, he knew that if he lost, his friends and family would suffer more than any other, but his body refused to listen to his mind, all he could do was watch as Shadow began approaching him slowly, and angry look on his face.

"It's time we finally end this Flame" he said as he came closer, Twilight felt tears running down her cheeks, seeing her husband so badly beaten, sent back the painful memories of the first time she had felt that she had lost him, back before they got married, when they professed their love for each other, now she felt as if she was truly going to lose him.

Just as he got closer, the room began to rumble, and a bright light shined from the roof, making Shadow Blaze take a few steps back and shield his eyes, as well as the others, the light slowly settled down, and began to clear, they all turned and looked, shocked to see none other than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, standing there, dressed in armor, that was fitted for them, both of them had angry looks on their faces, "you won't touch him again!" Celestia said angrily.

**A/N: that was shorter than I expected, but there you go, that's all for now, I will have the next chapter up soon, hope you enjoyed and see you all then.**


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: I'm back again with the next chapter, that will probably be the second to last chapter, but we will see about that, anyway, hope you all enjoy.**

**Shadows of the Past: chapter 16: turning the tides**

Celestia and Luna stood there in fighting stances; Shadow merely stood there, a shocked expression written all over his face, all the other soldiers backed off, in fear.

Celestia looked back, and her horn glowed, Twilight and all her friends, looked down and saw the chains on their hooves disappear, Twilight and all of them looked up at her with smiles, and then ran to Flame to help him up, who was still struggling painfully, both the Princess's then turned their attention, back to Shadow Blaze, who had a large smile on his face, and looked as if he was about to burst out laughing.

Just as they thought, suddenly Shadow started laughing, but the Princess's stayed still, waiting for him to finish, and a few second later, he stopped and looked at them, Celestia and Shadow were roughly the same height, but they still remained focused.

"this is priceless, I never thought I would see the day, the Princess's actually got off their thrones to do something for once, instead of just sending her heroes to do it for them" he said in a mocking laugh, the Princess's knew he was just trying to make them angry, but they kept their cool, "last time you caught us off guard, but now where prepared, we'll fight you ourselves" Luna said in a calm yet serious tone, this sent Shadow into another fit of laughter.

"you…you really think you can defeat me, very well, I was going to save you two for last, but if you want to seal your fate earlier, then so be it" he said his expression turning serious, the room fell completely silent, Celestia looked down at Luna, "sister, I'll handle him, you help them with Flame, use your magic to heal him, this fight isn't over" she said, Luna gave Celestia a worried look, but nodded and ran back to the others, while Celestia turned to Shadow and took a fighting stance.

"It's amazing, it takes you this long to finally grow some back bone, and face me yourself, after letting countless others die from your mistakes, I am impressed Celestia, but it's still pointless, do you honestly think you can stop me?" he asked, as they just stared each other down, "nopony is perfect, not even me, I have made my fair share of mistakes, but If I have to stop you, then I will fight you to my last breath" she said, Shadow's face turned to that of a serious one.

They both fell silent, and suddenly Shadow yelled out and charged forward, Celestia folded her wings and charged at him, they yelled out as they met in the middle, their horns colliding, causing a bright spark, they both stood their trying to overpower the other, their faces only inches apart, it had been many years since Celestia had to fight like this, but she held her own, both of them were struggling to push back one another.

While Celestia held him off, Luna ran up to the others, she saw them trying to lift him up, only for him to cry out in pain, she ran up to them, "be careful, I will try to heal him, set him down" she told them, they all gave her confused looks, but they placed him on the ground, Luna took a deep breath, and her horn started to glow, she got up and bent down to Flame's body, and her horn touched the top of his, and there was a bright flash, and she stood up, and her horn started glowing, Flame opened his eyes and felt his strength return, and he slowly pushed himself up, just to have Twilight and his two foals throw their hooves around him, almost knocking him down again, Luna cleared her throat, and they all turned to her, "thank your princess" Flame said, but she raised her hoof, "there is no need to thank me, but it's not time to celebrate yet, I must help my sister, you take care of the rest of them" she said pointing to the members of the league, who merely watched their master fight the Princess.

Just as she said that, she spread her wings and took off into the air, Flame looked at his friends and family, and then smiled, "alright you heard the Princess, let's take these guys down" he said, looking at the leader, who had an uneasy look on his face, he took a step back, "you're a fool Flame, you can't beat us" he said with a confident smile, even though Flame could tell he was panicking, "kill them all!" the leader shouted and they all ran forward, Flame looked back at his family, and then smiled, and they all yelled out and ran at them.

The entire time, Celestia and Shadow Blaze were still locked, trying to fight back the others, Shadow's strength proved to be stronger than Celestia thought, but soon she got an idea, she looked at him and smiled, suddenly she spread her wings out and flew back in the air, her horn still glowing, Shadow looked up in shock, as a powerful blast of magic shot from her horn, he growled and dodged to the side, just before it hit him.

He pushed himself back up, and looked up at her; she had an overconfident smile on her face, but he was going to prove her wrong, he spread his wings out and leaped into the air, flying straight at Celestia, his speed was too hard for Celestia to follow, and she cried out in pain as he slammed into her, and pushed her all the way across the room, until she slammed into the wall, and to prevent her from falling he pinned her front hooves, and looked into her eyes.

"I don't know why you fight, it's all hopeless, it's time I finish what I started, so long ago" he said as his horn started to glow, Celestia looked at him in fear, but then she looked behind him, she looked back at him with a smile, "guess again" she said, he was confused by what she said, but got his answer, when he cried out in pain, from a blast of magic that hit him in the back, he looked behind him, letting go of one of her hooves, and turned to see Luna floating in the air, a smug smile on her face, "always watch you back Shadow…" she said, Celestia smiled and her horn glowed, sending out a powerful blast of magic, that hit him in the chest, sending him back a few feet, Celestia flew up to her sister, and smiled, "…and never let your guard down" she said smiling.

Shadow stopped himself, and floated in the air, he turned his attention to the Princess's, his breathing was heavy, but just as he did, he started laughing, "I am impressed, even after all these years, you still know how to fight, but it's not enough to beat me, I think it's time I show you my true power" he said as his horn began to glow, and he closed his eyes, he suddenly opened his eyes, and they were replaced by a glowing light, his horn grew brighter and in an instant he was gone.

Celestia and Luna were shocked by the move, and they looked around in all directions, "keep an eye out for him" Celestia said, suddenly they heard a loud whoosh, and Celestia cried out in pain as she was struck in the side by, by a powerful blast of magic, that sent her straight into the wall, she cried out in pain as she smacked hard into the wall, she fell and crashed into the ground, she looked up and tried to push herself up on to her hooves, but was stopped by a sharp pain in her back hoof, she looked back and saw her hoof crushed by a large piece of stone, she took a deep breath and tried to levitate it off of her, but her magic failed, from the spell she got hit with, she looked up to see the panicked look on her sister's face.

As soon as Celestia got hit by the blast, Luna turned around to attack Shadow, but only to be grabbed by the throat, and lifted up, she looked down into none other than Shadow's eyes, her wings tried to push herself away, but his grip was too strong, Shadow's eyes returned to their normal color.

"look at you, Princess Luna, the princess of the night, your pathetic, always following in your sisters steps, your nothing but a shade of you sister, at least she poses the slightest threat, but not you, allow me to put you out of your misery" he said as he threw her across the room, where she smacked hard into the wall, with enough force to break her spine, she failed to open her wings, as she fell to the ground like her sister, she hit the ground hard, and a pained grunt.

Shadow smiled as his horn glowed and he shot a blast of magic at the roof right above her, causing a large amount of stone blocks to fall down, Luna looked up in fear and tried to move but couldn't, she just lay on her stomach as the stones fell on her, burying her in rubble.

Celestia looked on in fear, as her sister was buried in stone, "LUNA NOO!" she cried out, she watched as Shadow Blaze landed a few feet in front of her, smiling and chuckling, as he began walking towards her, "I told you, you can't beat me, now it's time to finish what I started so many years ago" he said as he started walking towards her, Celestia tried to push the stone off, but it was too heavy.

Just as he got closer, he felt the floor shake beneath him, he stopped and began looking all around the room, the same as Celestia and all the others, Shadow felt the shaking grow stronger, he turned around and saw a bright light shining from under the large pile of stones where Luna was, they all watched as the light grew brighter, until they had to cover their eyes, just then all the stones blew away, scattering everywhere.

And slowly the light began to dim, they all looked there, but they didn't see Luna, they saw a much taller alicorn standing where she was, her mane was flowing and different, Celestia and the others all looked on in shock as she opened her eyes, Shadow looked completely shocked, she smiled as her eyes glowed white, "now you will feel _my_ true power" she said in a voice that was not Luna's, as she bent down and shot a powerful blast of magic at him, it was almost too fast for him, but he barely dodged past it.

The entire time they fought, Flame and the others had outnumbered the league, and Flame walked up to the leader, "your outnumbered now, you come quietly, I can guarantee a nice prison cell for you" Flame said with a smile, the leader growled, "I'll die before I surrender to you" he said as he took out his knife, and charged at Flame.

Flame merely smiled as the got closer and pounced at him, Flame merely stepped to the side, and the leader yelled out as he swung his knife at Flame, who just dodged every swing.

The leader finally stopped and caught Flame off guard by tackling him to the ground, Flame cried out in surprise, as he was pushed on to his back, the leader smiled and raised his knife, "now you die Flame!" he screamed as he pushed it down, Flame blocked it with his hooves, but the leader was stronger than him.

He smiled sadistically as the blade was inching closer to Flame's throat, he knew he had to act fast, and Flame brought his free back hoof, and rammed it up to his stomach, the leader cried out in pain, as he lost his grip, and Flame took the chance and punched him off.

Flame rolled on to his back, and crawled to his knife, the leader saw this and growled, he charged at Flame, and jumped into the air, and brought his knife forward, Flame reached his knife and rolled on to his stomach, knife faced up.

As soon as the leader landed on him, the sound of metal piercing metal was heard, Flame opened his eyes, but did not feel any pain, he looked up and saw the leader staring at him, he looked down and saw his knife stabbed into the leader's chest, the leader stumbled back, trying to regain his footing.

Flame pushed himself up, and turned to him, the leader looked up, with a shocked look on his face, time seemed to slow, as he fell to his side, and didn't move anymore, Flame could instantly tell that he was dead, the other members had been dealt with, now all they could do was watch the Princess's fight it out.

Shadow Blaze was losing the fight against the Princess's, Luna had once again become Nightmare Moon, he knew she was far more powerful in that form, and when Celestia rejoined the fight, he was beaten down, and he found himself on the far side of the room, holding his left hoof, breathing heavily, he looked up, and saw Nightmare Moon and Celestia floating in place, he took a deep breath, "I have grown tired of these games" he said as he stood up straight, and focused his magic, his horn started to glow, and an incredibly powerful blast shot from it at the Princess's.

They were shocked by the speed, and shielded themselves, and the blast exploded in mid-air, shocking them all, "what, what is this?" he asked, when he saw a shield had formed around the Princess's, that neither of them had conjured up, he was about to say something, but was stopped by clapping and a familiar laugh, he looked up and saw a creature appear next to Celestia.

He instantly knew who it was, the master of chaos himself, Discord.

Discord continued laughing as he landed on the ground, "bravo, this was quite a performance, it's been a long time Shadow Blaze, I take it being dead isn't fun" he said with a laugh, despite his shock, Shadow gave off a chuckle, "well, this certainly is a twist, the god of chaos himself, I thought you would be the last creature to help these ponies" he said standing up straight, Discord gave a laugh, and turned to all of them, and then looked back at Shadow.

"True, I guess you could say we have a…tricky past, but as of now, we all have a common interest" he said with a smile, Shadow frowned at him, "and what would that be?" he asked, Discord smiled, "I want to rule this world, but we both know I can't do that, as long as your around" he said as he lifted his claws, an a large sword appeared, Shadow stared at him in anger, "three against one, possibly more, this hardly seems fair, I guess it's time to even the playing field" he said as he closed his eyes, and his horn started to glow again, he started to groan, they all watched as the wind started to pick up around them, it all seemed to start swirling around Shadow, his horn started glowing brighter, and much to their surprise, his amulet began to light up, they all looked at him in surprise.

Just as he did, his amulet shined brightly and he opened his eyes, instead of their normal color, they were both completely red, colored like blood, he growled, "now you will all die!" he shouted as he disappeared, they all looked in every direction.

The room fell silent and they looked out for him, suddenly they heard Celestia cry out in pain, they looked up and saw her get rammed in the side, straight into the wall, shadow smiled as his horn glowed and a blast shot out and hit Celestia again as she fell to the ground.

Nightmare Moon turned around to see Shadow floating in front of her, a smile on his face, she lowered her horn and a blast shot out, the blast seemed to pass right through him, she was shocked as the form disappeared, she looked around, but failed to notice him sneak up behind, she suddenly cried out in pain, as a bolt of electricity hit her body, and she screamed in pain, as she fell to the ground.

Discord looked in all directions, his sword ready, he heard a whoosh sound, he turned to see Shadow smiling at him, Flame and the others ran to the Celestia's side, and helped her up.

Discord yelled out as he ran up to him and swung the blade, Shadow merely dodged to the side, and Discord kept swinging the sword, trying to hit him, but failed every time, finally Shadow's horn glowed and a blast shot out hitting discord in the chest, sending him flying away, and crashing to the floor, and knocking him unconscious.

Flame and the others helped Celestia to her hooves, she turned to Flame, "Flame listen to me, his amulet, it's the source of his power, you must destroy it, it's our only chance to beat him" she said looking at him, he nodded his head and walked to the middle to the room, just in time to see Shadow land a few yards in front of him, smiling widely, Flame frowned and he unsheathed his knife and held it in his magical grip.

Shadow merely laughed, "now that all those distractions are out of the way, we can finish what we started" he said, taking a fighting stance, Flame did the same, he remembered what the Princess said, he looked at the amulet.

Just as he did, he looked back at Shadow, "fine, let's finish this" he said as they stared each other down, Flame had the first move as he charged forward, Shadow did as well, and in an instant, Flame's horn started to glow, and right before they collided he disappeared, Shadow saw this and skidded to a halt, and turned around, and saw Flame jump at him, swinging the knife at his neck, Shadow moved his head back barely, the blade cut through the rope that held the amulet around his neck, and it flew off, and landed behind Flame, at the other end of the room, but Shadow Blaze barely noticed, as he moved to the side.

When he stopped he turned to Flame, and saw him charging at him again, and jump into the air, Shadow dodged to the side once again, and delivered a punch to Flame chest, Flame's eyes opened in shock, and he flew back, the wind knocked out of him.

All the while, the others just watched, they remained strangely calm, Shadow walked over to Flame as he tried to stand up, Flame picked up the knife and swung it, only to have it knocked out of his hoof, and punched in the face again, anger evident on Shadow's face.

"It's time I end this, one and for all" he said as he picked Flame up, and held him high, Flame had blurry vision, but he looked into Shadow's eyes, "goodbye Flame, you have been a formidable opponent, but your time is finished" he said as his horn began to glow, but much to his surprise and confusion, he saw Flame smiling at him, and laughing weakly, "guess again, Shadow Blaze" he said, suddenly he looked down at his neck and noticed the amulet was missing, he began looking around in a panic.

Just as he did, he heard the sound of glass shattering, Shadow gasped out loud, as a sharp pain filled his chest, he lowered to the ground, and turned around and saw his amulet broken, a knife stabbed through it, but much to his shock, Flame stood behind it, breathing heavily, an angry look on his face, Shadow turned back to the pony in his hooves, the pony smiled and winked as he slowly evaporated, Shadow's magic began to fade, and he dropped to the ground holding his chest, gasping in pain.

The others began to form around him, but kept their distances, Shadow was staring at the ground, his vision blurry, he heard the sound of hoofs walking past him and stopping in front of him, he didn't need to look up to know who it was, but he did anyway, Flame looked down at him with a calm yet serious look, Shadow was breathing very heavily.

"How…how did you do it?" he asked, Flame looked at him, "it was just a simple clone spell" Flame said flatly, Shadow looked up at him, anger and hate in his eyes, "are you going to kill me now, you could do it, kill me Flame, kill me and you'll be no better than me, do it!" he shouted, Flame shook his head, and turned away, "that's why we are different, you let your anger and lust for revenge guide you, and so you became the very thing you wanted to destroy, bad things happen to us, but we should all move on, and make our own choices in life, you can choose who you want to be" he said as he turned around, Flame's father walked up to him, and placed a hoof on his shoulder.

Shadow looked down his eyes wide, he thought for a moment, "maybe…your right Flame, I should choose, and I think I'll choose…this!" he shouted as he took out his knife and lashed out at Flame, who saw this coming and dodged back, now it was Shadow who was swinging wildly, the others had backed up, Shadow swung his hoof around and punched Flame in the face, Flame cried out as he landed on his back, Shadow jumped into the air, and aimed his knife at Flame.

The others just watched in fear, Flame's father watched as his son's life was put in danger, he knew he had to do something, he quickly charged forward, Flame looked up in fear, and he turned away, his eyes closed, and Shadow landed, the sound of metal piercing flesh was heard, but strangely Flame felt no pain, he heard the sound of multiple gasps, and cries of anguish.

He opened his eyes, and looked in front of him, and saw his father standing in his way, Shadow's expression turned to a shocked one, Flame's father looked down, and saw the knife had stabbed him in the chest, Shadow growled, "you fool!" he shouted as he pulled out the knife and smacked him across the face, sending him crashing to the floor, "NOO!" Flame shouted out, as his father crashed to the floor, Flame looked in front again, and his expression turned from sad, to pure anger, as he rose up and his horned glowed, Shadow looked at him in shock as he took a few steps back, and raised his knife, he could see the rage in Flame's eyes, it was unlike anything he had ever seen.

Flame stood up, his eyes filled with hate, Shadow has caused his family much pain, and now he was going to finish this once and for all, "you've hurt me and my family for the last time!" Flame shouted as he cried out in anger as he charged forward, faster than Shadow had ever seen, and talked Shadow to the ground, knocking the knife out of his grip, and it clattered to the floor.

Shadow recovered from the blow and focused on Flame, who still had a look of rage on his face, Shadow looked at him in shock, "how…how did you get so strong?" he asked, Flame just stared at him, "I won't let you harm another soul" he said as he charged forward, and grabbed the knife and jumped at Shadow, who dodged to the side, but barely, Flame balanced on his hooves and spun around.

Shadow did the same and tried to tackle Flame, but Flame brought out the knife and bought it forward, and they heard the sound of piercing flesh, Shadow looked down and saw his own knife wedged into his chest, Flame looked at him in anger, Shadow tried to grasp the knife and pull it out, but he was too weak, and he fell to eye level with Flame, "it's not possible…I can't lose to you, not again" he said struggling to pull the knife out, but Flame reached under his armor and pulled out a pistol, knowing that Shadow didn't know what it was, he brought it up and pointed it straight at Shadow.

"it is possible, now you die" he said as he pulled the trigger, and the loud boom was heard, Shadow fell to his side and no longer moved, a bullet hole, right between the eyes, leaking blood, they all looked at him in shock, Flame calmed down at looked at his father who was still lying on the ground, "dad!" he shouted as he ran to him, he saw Flare and his mom already at his side, trying to heal the wound, but had no luck, the wound was bleeding heavily.

Flame ran up to him, and held his hoof, his father turned to him, his eyes half open, but he still looked at him, "dad, stay with us, just keep your eyes open, we'll get you some help" he said as he looked up at his mother, who had tears falling from her eyes, then he turned to Flare, who was also crying.

"I don't think I can…make it out of this one" he said in a weak voice, Flame felt tears welling up in his eyes, "no dad, don't say that, I'm not going to lose you again, not after we just found each other again" he said as the tears began to fall, the others just watched in sadness, even Discord wasn't trying to make it funny, they could all feel the pain that Flame felt, his father was dying, and he couldn't help him.

"Flame, listen to me, I have lived my life, trying to set the wrong things I've done right, and I know that I taught you well, to be a better pony, you and your brother are two of the most important things to me, and I have done what I could to raise you right, and I see that you know have lived the best life you could, and I am so proud of you, I hope you can forgive me, I love you Flame, you and your brother, are my entire world, and just knowing you will both live on, I am at peace, goodbye Flame, I will always be proud of you" he said as his voice died away, and he slowly closed his eyes, and didn't move, Flame lost it as tears relentlessly poured down his cheeks, he lowered his head down and cried, only hoping that his father would come back.

The others just took off their helmets, in respect for the fallen warrior, soon an airship had returned to the area and took them back to the castle, where they would have a funeral, and there was no cause of celebration.

The day fell silent, as they mourned for the loss of a father, a friend, and an honorable warrior.

**A/N: well, that was sad, there will be one final chapter, and then it will finally be over, hope you all enjoyed, see you guys next time.**


	18. epilogue

**A/N: here it the final chapter for this story, hope you all enjoyed it, I know I enjoyed writing it, after this we are one step closer to the big finale, hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**Shadows of the Past: epilogue**

After they returned to the castle, a funeral was held for Flame's father, even though he was not very known, he was given every aspect of a funeral for a hero, many ponies came up to speak, including Flame and his brother.

Even though shadow blaze was dead, for good, he still had the feeling that it wasn't over, that they had yet to face the worst.

He stood inside the throne room of the castle, the funeral had ended a while ago, he stood looking out the windows, just staring letting the sun shine on him, he had his eyes closed, and he took a deep breath, he opened his eyes when he heard a set of hooves come up to his side, he didn't need to look to see who it was, he already knew.

"I am sorry for your loss Flame, I may have not known your father as much as I know you, but I could tell he was a great unicorn, just like you, I'm sure he would be proud of you" she said setting a hoof on his shoulder, he looked down for a minute, and then sighed, "I know, he was an inspiration to me and my brother, I plan on making him proud, but I have this feeling, that even though Shadow Blaze is finally dead, it's not over, I know now that no matter what we do, our past will keep coming back, and every time, it will put my friends and family in danger, I thought I could live a normal life, but I see now, that is far from possible, a part of me says that this isn't over, there are still dark times ahead" he said turning to her.

Celestia turned and looked at him, and placed another hoof on his shoulder, "that may be, but we will just have to wait, and endure whatever life throws at us, things will always get worse before they get better, I'm sure you know that, but for now we wait, and heal" she said before she looked down at him again, he smiled up at her.

"Thank you Princess, I am grateful, for everything you've done" he said in a kind tone, she smiled down at him, "what of your brother and mother?" she asked, Flame thought for a moment, and then smiled at her, "I guess they will be staying with us at the library, at least until they can adjust to a more normal life, and find a place for themselves" he said, and just as he did the door behind them opened and in walked his family, he smiled and walked up to them, Flame walked up to Twilight, who smiled at him, he smiled back and they wrapped their hooves around each other, their son and daughter joined in, Celestia smiled as they separated and turned to her.

"if you ever need anything, I will be here to help, as always, the train for PonyVille will be arriving soon, you should get going, we shall speak again soon" she said as they turned and walked away, and left the room, when the door close, her smile faded, and she turned to the large window, she sighed heavily as she heard a swift whoosh and a set of hooves walk up beside her.

"Why do you continue to act as if everything is alright, you know it won't be, not for long at least" said the stallion as he stood next to her.

She sighed heavily, "he deserves to rest, he's been through a lot, more then we can comprehend, I just want him to be at peace" she said looking at the sun, as it slowly moved to the horizon, he gave a slight chuckle, "he will be soon enough, but first he will suffer, in many ways, life is cruel, you of all ponies should know that, life can be hard, lonely, and bitter, and he is going to know the true meaning of pain" he said with a serious look.

She turned to him, "why must it happen to him, for all the things he's done for this kingdom, must his future be filled with so much pain and loss, does he really deserve it?" she asked with a sad look on her face, he turned to her, with a straight expression.

"I told you before, I do not control it, I am simply here to carry it out, and I answer to a higher power, it shall happen, but for now, he can rest and heal his wounds, both physical and emotional, but the day will come, and nopony, not even you will be able to stop it" he said as he turned and walked away, Celestia looked after him, but she sighed sadly, and looked out the windows, as the sun was beginning to set, she calmly turned and walked out of the room, a sad expression on her face.

**A/N: well there you have it, the end of this story, I hope you all enjoyed, who was the strange stallion, and what does he mean, when he was talking about Flame, after the end of 'Faith in the Past' I will start the finale, and we shall see.**


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